Asia Pacific

Spaceflight Industries, Inc. announced on 11 February 2020 that it has signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Japan's Mitsui & Co., Ltd. in partnership with Yamasa Co., Ltd. to sell its satellite rideshare launch business, Spaceflight, Inc.

Aerospace firm Ananth Technologies has signed deals to build six foreign-owned satellites in India, a first for a private firm, leveraging the country's low cost base to attract global customers.

Japan is eyeing expanded space cooperation with Malaysia in a bid to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with the Southeast Asian country, and as part of an effort to balance against China's powerful influence through such programmes as its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region.

Thaicom Public Company Limited has reported progress in its ongoing efforts to migrate customers from Thaicom 5 after the satellite suffered a technical anomaly.

The Indonesian government has appointed a consortium of local companies to operate a broadband telecommunication satellite that will provide comprehensive internet access across the vast archipelago.

Japan's Astroscale Holdings has been selected as the commercial partner for Phase I of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) first debris removal project, a groundbreaking step by Japan to commercialize space debris removal, the company announced 12 February 2020.

Japanese financial company SBI Holdings announced at the end of January 2020 that it is raising as much as 100 billion Yen (U.S.$920 million) for a new venture capital fund that will focus on Japanese and foreign 5G network, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), and healthcare startups.

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA satellite launch vehicle successfully lofted an electro-optical Intelligence Gathering Satellite (IGS) on behalf of the Japanese Cabinet Office from the Tanegashima Space Centre, Kagoshima Prefecture, in southwest Japan on 9 February 2020.

By Dr. Malcolm Davis There’s been great interest about the establishment of a “United States Space Force” by the Trump Administration. President Trump began promoting the concept of a sixth and fully independent military force for space since early 2018, and the actual space force was formalised under a Congressional …

The University of South Australia’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC) is now accepting applications for its 2020 Venture Catalyst Space programme. As Australia’s first space incubator, the programme forms part of the state government’s AUS$4 million (U.S.$2.7 million) Space Innovation Fund which is delivered by global partners including the South …