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Asia Pacific

Saudi Arabia to Contribute Optical Camera to China’s Chang’e-4 Lunar Far Side Mission

By Andrew Jones China’s pioneering Chang’e-4 lunar mission set to launch later this year will carry an optical camera provided by Saudi Arabia as part of international involvement in the mission. The Chang’e-4 mission, which will use the backup to the 2013 Chang’e-3 Moon lander and rover, plans to make …

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Israel’s Gilat Selected by Australia’s NBN and Speedcast for SATCOM Coverage in Rural Australia

NBN Co. and Speedcast International, Ltd, partners in delivering Australian communications networks, have selected Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks, Ltd. to provide the satellite platform to serve nationwide business clients in regional and rural Australia. Gilat will deliver, operate, and support its Business and Enterprise Satellite Service (BESS) for businesses …

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UK’s Surrey Satellite to Lease Earth Observation Satellite to China’s 21AT

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), located in Guildford, Surrey, in the U.K., has signed a GBP25 million (approximately U.S.$34.8 million) deal with China’s Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd. (21AT) for the lease of the SSTL-S1 Earth observation satellite. SSTL-S1 is due to be launched on an Indian Space …

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UAE’s KhalifaSat Earth Observation Satellite Nears Completion, Receives Royal Seal of Approval

The first satellite to be indigenously built by Emirati engineers is nearing completion, and will be launched by Japan later this year. KhalifaSat, an Earth observation satellite that is being built by the Dubai-based Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), was inspected by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, …

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Philippines to Complete Diwata-2 Cubesat; Open Microsatellite Laboratory in Late 2018

The Philippines is set to complete its Diwata-2 Cubesat and hand it over to Japan for launch later this year, according to a senior Filipino government official. Rowena Cristina Guevara, Undersecretary at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), told Filipino media that Diwata-2 will be launched by Japan on …

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Thailand To Build Its Own Space Situational Awareness Satellite

The Thai government is considering a proposal to indigenously build its own Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellite that, if approved, is to be launched in 2022. Upon government approval, the satellite will be built by the Thai space agency, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), with the aim …

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Thailand Expected to Select France’s Airbus for THEOS-II Earth Observation Satellite

The Thai space agency, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), has selected France’s Airbus Defence and Space to build the Thailand Earth Observation Satellite (THEOS) II, to replace the THEOS-I satellite also built by Airbus but which went out of service in 2015. The GISTDA choice of Airbus …

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Japan Launches Cubesat to Orbit With World’s Smallest Rocket, Enters Small Sat Launch Market

Following on the heels of the successful Rocket Labs Electron rocket launch from New Zealnd on 20 January, 2018, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched on 3 February, 2018, a 3 kilogram Cubesat into low Earth orbit using the smallest rocket ever to launch a satellite into …

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THAICOM Set For “Transformation to the Digital Era” After Reporting Significant Decline in Revenues

Thaicom, the Thai satellite communications company that operates a fleet of seven satellites, has announced that it intends to implement its “Transformation to the Digital Era” strategy after the company posted significant reductions in revenues for Financial Year 2017. These reductions in earnings included a decrease of nearly 23% in …

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Indian Space Programme to be Featured at Dubai’s World Government Summit

Dr. Koppillil Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, and Dr. D. Gowrisankar, ISRO’s Deputy Director for International Cooperation, will make a presentation on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission at the World Government Summit in Dubai later this month. Dr. K. Sivan, current Chairman of ISRO, told a …

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