Asia Pacific

Arianespace has announced that it will launch THEOS-II, the very-high-resolution Earth observation optical satellite for Thailand, and KOMPSAT-7 for the Korean Aerspace Research Institute (KARI), in two separate launches on the new Arianespace Vega-C launch vehicle in 2021.

Japanese New Space exploration and space resources company Ispace has signed a launch agreement with SpaceX to launch their first privately-funded Lunar mission in 2020.

Sky and Space Global (SAS), the New Space narrowband satellite communications company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to explore how SAS’ communications service can be integrated into their respective national telecommunications infrastructure.

China's government is considering building a commercial space launch centre for the country's New Space private launch companies, a number of which will be attempting their first orbital flights by the end of 2018, according to a report by Andrew Jones in GBTimes.

Astrome, an Indian New Space satellite broadband company headquartered in Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore), is planning to launch 150 High-Throughput Satellites (HTS) starting in 2019 in order to bring high-speed broadband Internet to remote and rural areas on the Indian subcontinent and so bridge the Digital Divide in the world's most populous country.

China's Institute of Aerospace Information Research has helped ten countries install virtual ground stations in order to receive remote sensing data, it was announced last week.

Earlier this month, the Royal Air Force (RAF) took part in the gruelling Himalayan Venture 18, the principal expedition of RAF100 –the celebration of the centenary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, the first independent Air Force in the world. Uniting 75 members of the wider RAF family, the pioneering expedition took teams to the Rolwaling and Khumbu regions of the Nepalese Himalayan range.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the Indian state-run telecommunications company, is partnering with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to provide 5G networks and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity across India, including through Softbank’s OneWeb satellite constellation that is currently under construction.

e-GEOS, a company jointly owned by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Telespazio, has won new contracts in Indonesia and Japan to provide satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence from the COSMO-SkyMed Earth observation satellite constellation for maritime domain awareness and other applications.

Thai New Space company mu Space released on 21 September 2018 a 3D image of the spacesuit that astronauts and mu Space's space tourism clients will one day wear when they travel in space and on the Moon.