Asia Pacific

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has started work on the construction of a new satellite ground station at Kapooka in New South Wales, Australia, as part of the ground segment of the Wideband Global SATCOM military satellite communications capability.

Thai Space entrepreneur James Yenbamroong, founder and CEO of Thai New Space company mu Space, announced on 9 October 2018 a plan to establish a venture unit in 2019 in a move to go international and to create opportunities other than satellite communications.

A "Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of Russia, Roscosmos, on Joint Activities in the field of Human Spaceflight Programme," was signed between India and Russia on 5 October 2018.

The Australian Space Agency has formally entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with counterpart agencies in Canada and the United Kingdom, as part of the Australian coalition government’s plan to launch a vibrant new space industry in Australia.

The Australian Space Agency has signed a statement of strategic intent with Sitael Australia, a designer and manufacturer of satellites, enhancing the competitiveness and capability of Australia’s space industry.

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has released its space exploration roadmap that sets out a path for Australian space industry and research organizations to more fully support and participate in international space science and exploration initiatives, particularly international efforts to reestablish a human presence on the Moon.

Audacy, a space communications service provider based in the U.S. and Singapore and deploying the first commercially licensed inter-satellite data relay network, has announced that it had achieved a significant milestone by securing pre-service commercial agreements valued at over U.S.$100 million.

Space BD, the Japanese New Space startup company specializing in business development of Japanese space technologies and projects, announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with Innovative Solutions In Space n.v. (ISIS), to be the distributor of the Dutch company’s small satellite solutions and components for the Japanese market.

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) and Airbus Defence and Space have signed a statement of intent that commits the European satellite manufacturer to enhancing the capability and competitiveness of the Australian space and satellite industrial sector.

Singapore's National University of Singapore (NUS) and the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) RAL Space have signed an agreement that paves the way for the joint building of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) test satellite to be launched by late 2021.