News

SpaceX Inspiration4 Tourists Share Incredible Photos Of Earth

While the views from the large glass cupola were spectacular, the three-day expedition was not without its challenges.

Published

5 years ago

November 16, 2021

Joanna Melki

Inspiration4

In September, four space tourists spent three days circling the Earth on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship, and Inspiration4 has published magnificent new photographs shot by the crew.

The photographs show stunning views of the Earth below, including unusual angles of the Sun peaking up from beyond the horizon, bordered by the spacecraft’s large glass dome as a protective cover.

Inspiration4

The photos taken from Inspiration4 can be downloaded in high resolution from Flickr, which is a huge improvement over the slow stream of selfies and blurry in-orbit shots we were getting at the time.

Also Read: SpaceX To Launch The Arab World’s Most Advanced Satellite In 2023

While the views from the large glass cupola were spectacular, the three-day expedition was not without its challenges. For example, when the crew adjusted to life after launch, the onboard toilet began to malfunction, and at least one of the crew members got space sick.

Inspiration4

Despite the challenges, the high resolution photographs prove once and for all that the sights from hundreds of kilometers above the Earth’s surface are indeed breathtaking.

News

NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

Also Read: In Kuwait, Your Surgeon Might Be Operating From Another Country

NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.