Asia Pacific

Phase Four, makers of electric radio frequency (RF) thrusters for in-space propulsion, has announced a new agreement with Japan-based advanced spacecraft experts, Sunrise.

On the occasion of the state visit to France of the President of the People’s Republic of China, the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have stepped up their cooperation in the fields of planetary exploration and climate action. Space was already central to discussions between the two nations in January last year during the state visit to China of President Emmanuel Macron, a few months before the launch of the French-Chinese CFOSat oceanography satellite, the cornerstone of this partnership.

Argos is the only global satellite-based data collection and location system of its kind dedicated to studying and preserving the environment. Created in 1978 on the initiative of the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is today operated by CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellite), a subsidiary of CNES. Since Argos entered service, three generations of instruments have succeeded one another. Eumetsat and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) joined the programme in 1997 and 2007 respectively.

Pakistan’s space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), is believed to be in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on developing an agenda for possible space cooperation, according to a senior SUPARCO official quoted in the UAE newspaper Khaleej Times.

The maiden flight of Ariane 6 will see the new vehicle carrying OneWeb satellites that will build out the company’s new global, high-speed, low latency satellite-based network designed to address the most demanding global connectivity challenges worldwide. Ariane 6 will be available to OneWeb from the second half of 2020 …

SGAC and the Malisetti Foundation are proud to announce that Senjuti Mallick will be sponsored to attend the 8th Space Generation Fusion Forum (5 – 8 April, 2019), and the 35th Space Symposium (8 – 12 April, 2019).

NSR’s In-Orbit Servicing Markets, 2nd Edition (IoSM2) report forecasts $4.5 billion in cumulative revenues from In-Orbit Satellite Services by 2028. While growth is anticipated across all applications in all orbits, GEO satellite life extension will yield the largest share of revenues.

OneWeb has secured its largest fundraising round to date with the successful raise of $1.25 billion in new capital. This brings the total funds raised to $3.4 billion. This round was led by SoftBank Group Corp., Grupo Salinas, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and the Government of Rwanda.

Following the launch of the GRUS-1A microsatellite on 27 December 2018, Axelspace Corporation, has announced the details of the launch of two more satellites of the same type, GRUS-1B and GRUS-1C.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced their agreement on 12 March 2019 to consider the possibility of collaborating on international space exploration.