Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and Solar Junction Corporation (Solar Junction) are launching a revolutionary new technology that will increase the efficiency of spacecraft solar array production and operation and lower the overall cost, providing a direct savings to customers.

These advanced solar arrays are manufactured utilizing a patent-pending Surface Mount Technology (SMT) assembly method. This method allows each cell to be installed faster, closer together and more accurately than ever before.

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Saudi Arabia's prince has outlined bold plans to build a mega $2 trillion investment fund to help wean his country off its heavy reliance on oil. 

Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is second in line to the throne, outlined his plans in a five-hour interview with Bloomberg. 

"Within 20 years, we will be an economy or state that doesn't depend mainly on oil," he told Bloomberg.

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The agreement is between Aselsan, a Turkish Armed Forces Foundation company, and Taqnia Defense and Security Technologies, a subsidiary of Saudi Development and Investment Company.  

Through their investment, the JV company will establish a facility for the design, development, manufacturing and sales of radar, electronic warfare and electro-optic technologies.

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Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, signed on Tuesday an agreement with Taqnia Aeronautics to jointly explore helicopter production opportunities in Saudi Arabia, according to a press statement.

The new agreement outlines the investment, technology and skills needed to establish production jobs for Saudi citizens, and could lead to direct involvement in the assembly of Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk helicopters in Saudi Arabia.

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Saudi Arabia is preparing to test a new military transport aircraft it is manufacturing in partnership with Ukraine.

Under an agreement between the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing firm Antonov, the two countries are building 80 AN-132s – a modern version of the military transport plane AN-32. 

The new model would have modern engines and electronics that would make it more fuel efficient and able to take off and land in a range of different environments.

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Digital Globe Inc., the global leader in earth imagery and information about our changing planet, today announced the formation of a joint venture with TAQNIA, a firm dedicated to accelerating technology development for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in partnership with KACST to develop a constellation of highly capable small imaging satellites to support the needs of customers around the world.

DigitalGlobe and TAQNIA and KACST signed an agreement on February 21, 2016, to form a joint venture that will be responsible for developing six or more sub-meter resolution imaging satellites. The small satellites are expected to be capable of collecting imagery with anticipated 80 cm resolution and will leverage DigitalGlobe’s industry-leading ground infrastructure. TAQNIA and KACST will benefit from DigitalGlobe’s imagery production platform and expertise and massive catalog of high-resolution, high-accuracy imagery, which will improve the native accuracy of the small satellite imagery. TAQNIA and KACST will also benefit from DigitalGlobe’s global distribution capability and existing customer relationships with the world’s largest buyers of commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information.

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Saudi Arabia has formally launched a new ICT (information, communication and technology) startup ventures fund worth SAR500 million, or about US$133 million.

Known as Riyadh Taqnia Capital, the fund was announced personally by Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Muhammad of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). Partners will include Riyadh Financial Capital and several other Saudi holding companies such as the General Investment Fund, the General Pension Fund, and the Human Resources Development Fund.

The fund will maintain its headquarters in the Saudi capital but will open an international arm at 3000 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. Besides ICT, the fund will focus on energy, sustainability and advanced materials.

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THE FATE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST FOSSIL-FUEL PRODUCERS MAY NOW DEPEND ON ITS INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud belongs to the family that rules Saudi Arabia. He wears a white thawb and ghutra, the traditional robe and headdress of Arab men, and he has a cavernous office hung with portraits of three Saudi royals. When I visited him in Riyadh this spring, a waiter poured tea and subordinates took notes as Turki spoke. Everything about the man seemed to suggest Western notions of a complacent functionary in a complacent, oil-rich kingdom.

But Turki doesn’t fit the stereotype, and neither does his country. Quietly, the prince is helping Saudi Arabia - the quintessential petrostate - prepare to make what could be one of the world’s biggest investments in solar power....

In collaboration with the Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA), the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council (USSABC) organized a member-only roundtable on December 16, 2014. Hosted at the offices of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington D.C., the program served to familiarize the U.S. private sector with TAQNIA’s programs and the investment opportunities available across a spectrum of industries...

This month, we saw this vision realized as we participated in a signing ceremony for a historic alliance, the Saudi Arabia Advanced Research Alliance (SAARA). Five organizations, spanning Saudi Arabia’s public and private sectors, plus RTI, have joined forces to create Technovia as an operating entity and a focal point within Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this partnership is to bring industry and academia together to translate technology and intellectual property into commercial products and applications...