Asia Pacific

On 19 April 2019, the U.S.–Japan Security Consultative Committee convened in Washington, DC, with the participation of Secretary of State Pompeo, Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan, Minister for Foreign Affairs Kono, and Minister of Defense Iwaya.

Kacific Broadband Satellites Group has signed a fifteen-year agreement with Tonga Satellite Limited, a Tongan government company, to provide high-speed broadband via satellite to the Pacific Island nation.

The Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews has announced the success of the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) proposal led by The University of South Australia and Nova Systems.

Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it will take part in an international space exploration mission together with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation.

Following its 27 March 2019 direct-ascent antisatellite (ASAT) missile test that destroyed a target satellite in low-Earth orbit (LEO), the head of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) – G. Satheesh Reddy – has outlined to Indian media his organisation's counterspace technology ambitions for the coming years.

Air Chiefs and senior space officials from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States held a meeting at Headquarters Air Force Space Command to discuss the future of the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative on 10 April 2019.

Astroscale Holdings Inc., the market-leader in developing a space debris removal service to secure long-term orbital sustainability, has announced the opening of a new office in Denver, Colorado (“Astroscale U.S.”), adding a strategic United States base to already established entities in Singapore, Japan and the United Kingdom.

While SpaceIL's Beresheet lunar lander met with a tragic end on the Moon's surface, it has paved the way for a number of other private Moon missions that are currently in the works. Among these is Japan's ispace, and SpaceWatch.Global's Editor-in-Chief Helen Jameson spoke with Kyle Acierno about the company's plans.

Boeing and the Australian Space Agency have signed a Statement of Strategic Intent to help advance the agency’s goals to expand Australia’s domestic space industry.

Singapore-based SpaceChain has expanded its operations to the United Kingdom to leverage Europe's advanced space technologies and to drive economic development through SpaceChain's satellite infrastructure and blockchain technology.