Asia Pacific

Singaporean New Space company Astroscale has announced that it will open a National In-Orbit Servicing Control Facility in Harwell, UK. Astroscale is among the most high-profile company looking to remove space debris from orbit.

Gilmour Space, the Australian and Singaporean New Space launch company, has announced the appointment of two space veterans, Pamela Melroy, a former NASA astronaut, and Dava Newman, former Deputy Administrator of NASA, to its advisory board, as it prepares to enter the global small launch market in 2020.

The French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), met earlier in July 2018 to discuss working together within the framework of the Space Climate Observatory (SCO) and bilateral space cooperation in space launch and the development of Korean positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellites.

Thailand’s mu Space contributed part of the payload lofted by Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reusable Launch Vehicle in a successful test of the launch vehicle last week in the U.S. The six-kilogram payload, sent by mu Space, included experiments and technologies provided by mu Space as well as by Thai universities and space agencies.

The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is carrying out critical work in terms of inspiring and guiding young people that wish to forge careers in the space industry. This support is provided by a dedicated team working at SGAC that are constantly focused on the delivery of the organisation’s vision. Torsten Kriening spoke to Andrea Jaime, former Executive Director of SGAC to find out more about its importance to our future space sector and its work.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed contracts with three Indian companies for the manufacture of up to 27 satellites over the next three years, marking a change of direction for the ISRO in allowing Indian private industry to build space systems, rather than building them in-house.

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia or Bank BRI, the state-owned and largest bank in Indonesia, has selected Hughes’ JUPITER system to enable connectivity across the Indonesian market.

Following its request for proposals from satellite manufacturers for the build of a communications satellite, Thailand’s mu Space has announced that it is working with U.S. satellite manufacturer Space Systems Loral (SSL), a subsidiary of Maxar Technologies, to develop concepts for communications and Earth observation satellites.

Industry veteran Bob Gough has joined the team at Goonhilly Earth Station as the company bids to expand its operations and develop new business opportunities across Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Gough will oversee commercial expansion across the region and will grow Goonhilly’s customer base in this new market, one that is experiencing rapid growth and that has just seen the establishment of the Australian Space Agency.

Pakistani mobile network operator Wateen Telecom, has partnered with SES Networks in order to deliver cellular backhaul services to the most remote regions of Pakistan.