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Thank you!

 

The July fund-raising campaign is now over. Though the donations and subscriptions were poor for most of the month, the response in the last helped make up the difference. Thank you all for coming through in the end. It was beyond gratifying to find out that there are supporters to my work out there.

 

I will keep this thank you notice up for the next week, just so that everyone who donated or subscribed can see it. And if you haven’t donated this year as yet, please consider supporting me in some small manner. My website has no advertising and no sponsors (other than my readers), and it is free for all to read and comment without charge or registration. Your support is the only thing that keeps me going. You can either give a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.

 

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4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to

Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


UAE Space Agency demands registration from all space-related businesses

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency on July 28, 2026 announced that all space-related businesses that wish to operate within the UAE must register with the agency within 90 days, in accordance with a 2023 UAE law.

The UAE Space Agency calls upon all companies, organisations, public and private entities, and individuals currently operating or wishing to operate within the UAE space sector to take the initiative to regularise their status, complete all regulatory requirements, and obtain the necessary licences and permits within a 90-day grace period starting from 27th July 2026. This is in accordance with the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. (46) of 2023 concerning the Regulation of the Space Sector.

…after the expiration of the specified deadline, the supervisory and legal measures stipulated by law will be taken against non-compliant entities in accordance with the applicable legislation in the UAE.

A naive analysis would claim this licensing requirement is simply so the government knows what companies wish to do space-related business. A more cynical appraisal says that this requirement will allow the government to pick and choose which companies it wishes to succeed, and what those companies must pay to get that okay.

Based on how governments usually operate — especially in the Arab Middle East — I think it wise to consider the latter more likely.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

1 comment

One comment

  • Dick Eagleson

    Agree. This is pretty much a motivation for anyone in the UAE serious about pursuing space-related business to relocate elsewhere.

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