Asia Pacific

In a Washington, DC, speech, Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya outlines his country’s new National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) and Mid-Term Defense Plan (MTDP) that included new Japanese positions on national security space that require close cooperation with its American ally. Minister Iwaya’s speech covered a broad range of defence …

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) views space warfare as an important component of its concept of war, and is developing a range of capabilities and tactics to carry out space operations, as well as bolstering its organizational and command and control capacity to enable such operations, according to the U.S. …

The successful launch of the Vietnamese MicroDragon Earth observation satellite took place on 18 January 2019 from the Uchinoura Space Centre in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Earth observation satellite was carried by an Epsilon 4 satellite launch vehicle, which also lofted six Japanese-made satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO). The MicroDragon …

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), one of Japan’s largest shipping companies, is to increase the roll-out of Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress Service, across the remainder of its owned and managed fleet.  This underlines the confidence placed in the high-speed satellite service by major shipping lines and reinforces the scope of the digital …

Thaicom Public Company Limited (Stock Exchange of Thailand: THCOM), a leading Asian satellite operator and provider of integrated satellite end-to-end solutions, today announced that True Visions Group Co., Ltd. one of Asia’s leading pay TV providers, signed a long-term transponder capacity contract for continuing its pay TV service to audiences …

Satellogic, the world’s first vertically integrated geospatial analytics company, announced on 15 January 2018 a Multiple Launch Services Agreement (MLA) with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC). CGWIC will launch 90 of Satellogic’s spacecraft from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The first launch – scheduled for later this year – …

Sky and Space Global Ltd, the Australian Stock Exchange-listed company specializing in narrowband satellite communications, is pleased to announce it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arycom Capacidade Satelital Ltda. and a MoU with Cobbosseecontee Communications, LLC. Arycom Capacidade Satelital is a Brazilian company and a provider of …

India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, will be attempted in mid-April 2019, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said on 11 January 2019. Chandrayaan-2 will comprise a lander and a lunar rover. “We are targeting mid-April to launch Chandrayaan-2 as there were certain tests which could not be done …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited London and Paris as part of an effort to strengthen Tokyo’s ties with Western intelligence in order to counter increasing Chinese military and espionage activities throughout the Asia-Pacific region. These visits to the United Kingdom and France have been coupled with greater engagement …

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is aiming for the first crewed Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission to take place in December 2021. Following the Indian government’s recent allocation of U.S.$1.4 billion for the Gaganyaan mission, ISRO has revealed how much of this budget boost will be spent in achieving an …