Asia Pacific

Filipino company Bambu Wireless will use the Eutelsat-172 Satellite to provide broadband, maritime, and government connectivity services throughout the Philippines.

Taking the best of both company offerings, Planet and Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly develop a new range of satellite imagery products.

Pakistan is set to have its indigenously-built Earth observation satellite, PakTES-1A, as well as its Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS)-1, launched by China in July 2018 in a bid to catch up with its geopolitical rival, India.

Cyber security company Symantec has identified a Chinese hacking group (also called an Advanced Persistent Threat – APT) known as Thirp, which the company believes has the ability, potentially, to take over the computers of satellite communications operators in Southeast Asia and the United States that control their satellites.

Thai New Space company, mu Space Corporation, has approved the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a manufacturer to build the company’s satellite with coverage spanning across Asia-Pacific.

Sky and Space Global (SAS), the UK-Israeli New Space company registered on the Australian Stock Exchange, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese company Beijing Commsat Technology Development Co. in order to tap the massive Chinese Internet of Things (IoT) market.

Thailand’s mu Space has announced that it has secured an orbital slot and spectrum for its proposed communications satellite, planned for launch in 2020 by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The mu Space satellite is expected to provide satellite broadband throughout Southeast Asia.

Australian New Space company Fleet Space Technologies has announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and SpaceX will launch the first of its nanosatellites in the coming months; these nanosatellites will be the foundation for a constellation that will provide connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT).

In a move that appears to have surprised the Indian government, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has asked New Delhi for its cooperation in establishing a civilian satellite launch centre.

Sky and Space Global, the European-Israeli New Space satellite communications company that is registered on the Australian Stock Exchange, has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Air Traffic Automation Systems (IATAS) for the use of its satellite network by the air traffic company.