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Asia Pacific

Thailand to Host Belt & Road Initiative Earth Observation Centre

The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on 27 February, 2018, announced the launch of an international centre to carry out the work of the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) programme. The Digital Belt and Road (DBAR) …

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Thailand’s Thaicom Expands Its Reach With Launch Of Nava Ship Broadband Service Platform

Seeking to bolster disappointing revenue outcomes last year, Thaicom officially launched its Nava digital maritime service platform for ship and offshore operators. Announced this week, Nava provides broadband satellite services for ship operators. Headquartered in Thailand, Thaicom Public Company Limited is one of Asia’s leading satellite and digital platform operators …

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Thai University Completes KnackSat CubeSat, Set for August 2018 Launch

Faculty and students of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) have completed the construction of a cubesat called KMUTNB Academic Challenge of Knowledge Satellite, also known as KnackSat. KnackSat, built in Thailand by undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. students under the …

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Japan Launches Latest IGS Reconnaissance Satellite to Monitor North Korean, Chinese, and Russian Threats

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-2A satellite launch vehicle successfully lofted Japan’s latest Intelligence Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in the Southwest of Japan on Tuesday, 27 February, 2018. The IGS-Optical 6 satellite is one of several Japan has in orbit, including a number with …

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South Korea to Sell KOMPSAT Imagery to India and the Philippines

The government of South Korea has approved the sale of high-resolution satellite imagery taken by Korean high-resolution Earth observation satellites. The Satrec Initiative, a local provider for earth observation, will sell the imagery, and it has already signed export deals with India and the Philippines. This approval was announced last …

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China’s Satellites for Recognition and Resource Access Strategy at Work in Bolivia

China continues to move forward in its ongoing use of regional space and satellite deals to access the natural resources of other countries. As reported last week in The Sydney Morning Herald, China is amassing space-related contracts with countries in Central and South America, regions which have often lagged in space-related …

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#SpaceWatchGL Interviews: Rahul Narayan of TeamIndus

The Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) may have ended, but the teams that have invested nearly a decade into their lunar dreams have vowed to continue to reach their goals. TeamIndus had made huge progress towards the launch deadline of 31 March, 2018, and inspired the people of India and beyond …

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Bhutan to Create Own Space Agency and Launch CubeSat in 2018

The tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is to create its own space agency and will have its Bhutanese-built Cubesat – BHUTAN-1 – launched in 2018 from Japan. Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay announced that a space agency is to be created under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and …

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Japan’s ASEAN Space Diplomacy: Is Brunei Next?

China’s Space Silk Road, an offshoot of its much-vaunted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has captured the attention of the space sector’s trade media over the past few years, but while China’s ambitions are certainly newsworthy, another Northeast Asian country is quietly building a scientific, technical, and diplomatic space community …

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#SpaceWatchGL Interviews: Tor-Arne Grönland of GomSpace

Nanosatellite manufacturer GomSpace is going from strength to strength, fuelled by the innovative small satellite sector and an increased demand for small satellites that can perform a wider range of missions than ever before. In October 2016, GomSpace acquired nanosatellite propulsion specialist, NanoSpace, after establishing a partnership on several customer …

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