The China Commercial Aerospace Forum (CCAF) 2018, held in Wuhan in late September, was significant for a variety of reasons. Occurring in the latter part of the most dynamic year in Chinese commercial aerospace history, the conference was buzzing with activity and optimism, and saw representatives from both private and government space companies in attendance exchanging ideas and discussing trends.

Arianespace will carry out a Launch Readiness Review (LRR) at the Guiana Space Centre on 3 December 2018 of the Ariane 5 satellite launch vehicle that will loft the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) GSAT-11 communications satellite and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A meteorological satellite, and so authorize the start of operations for the final launch countdown.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), a pioneer in cloud computing that has revolutionized entire economic sectors around the world, has entered the space and satellite market with the introduction of its Ground Station concept that is, in essence, a ground station as-a-service product for the global market.

SpaceWatch.Global is proud to announce that SpaceWatch Europe starts official publication as of 1 December 2018.

Australian narrowband satellite communications New Space company, Sky and Space Global, has signed a distribution agreement with Latin American mobile satellite services (MSS) provider GlobalSat Group LLC to provide machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) coverage in South America.

South Korea successfully conducted its rocket engine test for the Korean Space Launch Vehicle-II (KSLV-II) on 28 November 2018 in a suborbital launch, clearing the way for the development of its own satellite launch vehicle.

Thaicom Public Company Limited, led by Prasert Bunsumpun, Chairman of the Board of Directors, received the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) Corporate Governance Awards for the Top 50 ASEAN publicly listed companies category for the second consecutive time.

The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, has announced its intention to build a constellation of satellites called Marathon to serve the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) market, as part of its Sphere satellite system.

Shetland Space Centre (SSC) has joined forces with telecom experts in the neighbouring Faroe Islands, forming a unique international partnership to drive forward space industry developments in the two island groups and beyond.

KT Sat, South Korea’s only commercial satellite communications company, has announced that it has created a working group to examine the integration of emerging technologies into its commercial offerings, to include blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT).