Two Laser-Hunting Cameras Begin Watching the Desert Sky Over Northwest Saudi Arabia

ALULA, SAUDI ARABIA — Two new LaserSETI stations are now operating at the AlUla Manara ASM Site in northwest Saudi Arabia, according to a report in The Debrief. The installations are described as the first of their kind in Asia, and are the product of a partnership between the SETI Institute and the Royal Commission for AlUla.

The devices were installed on August 19, 2026, the report states, and are now operational. They join existing LaserSETI locations in California, Hawai'i, Arizona and Puerto Rico, extending a network designed to watch the heavens continuously for unusual astronomical events, among them possible signals from extraterrestrial laser technology.

As the article describes the apparatus, each station uses wide-field cameras fitted with diffraction gratings to survey large portions of the night sky for unusual optical signals. Spreading the instruments around the globe, it says, lets the network gather more data and observe events from different vantage points. AlUla's dark skies are said to favor the detection of faint signals.

Dr. Franck Marchis of the SETI Institute said in a statement that the instruments are "installed, commissioned, and observing the sky." Eliot Gillum, the institute's Director of LaserSETI, said the project was designed as a global observatory rather than a single telescope, and that each new location improves the ability to compare unusual events across the world.

The arrangement includes a three-year commitment covering the new stations and cooperation with other participating organizations, according to the report. Naif Al Malik, AlUla Manara Executive Program Head, said the partnership turns a shared ambition into scientific capability. Researchers are to compare and analyze data gathered at the network's sites. The report mentions no detections.