Asia Pacific

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.

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.

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).

Chinese New Space company Chengdu GuoXing Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd., also known as ADA Space, is building satellites powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI); the company has already launched two and is preparing for a third launch in early December 2018.

ISRO recently announced its plans to undertake a mission to Venus in the early 2020s and has also invited international proposals for scientific payloads.

Australia's leading rocket company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has signed a long-term collaboration and supply agreement with global launch industry supplier, RUAG Space.

Satellite communications innovator and space gateway Goonhilly Earth Station has joined the consortium backing the SmartSat CRC (co-operative research centre), a proposed space research initiative which plans to drive the Australian space industry through satellite technologies and analytics.