Policy and Law

The Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the creation of the Defence Cyber Agency, the Defence Space Agency, and the Special Operations Division as part of ongoing defence reforms designed to deal with emerging and new threats, according to government sources quoted in the Indian media.

Vietnamese and Japanese officials revealed last week that they expect the Vietnamese radar Earth observation satellite, LOTUSat-1, to be launched sometime in 2019 after years of regulatory and diplomatic delays.

On the sidelines of a state visit to France by South Korean President Moon Jae-In, the French National space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) signed a letter of intent committing all parties to developing the Space Climate Observatory (SCO).

As the Asian Century takes on an interstellar dimension, who will write the rules of the road? Rajeswari Rajagopalan writes that space will likely be no exception to Asia’s great power rivalries.

Uzbekistan and France have signed a framework agreement on space cooperation during a state visit to Paris by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 9 October 2018.

The Virgin Group, the parent company of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, has withdrawn from all discussions over a U.S.$1 billion investment in its space activities with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) following the alleged torture and murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2 October 2018.

The International Astronautical Congress held in Bremen, Germany last week welcomed a record 6,500 delegates and 83 registered countries, reaffirming a global love affair with space. In addition, more than 10.000 participants attended the public day on Wednesday 3 October to tune-in live to the International Space Station (ISS) for a live session with Alexander Gerst, the second ESA and first German commander of the ISS in the twenty years of its existence.

The UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the European Space Agency (ESA) to define frameworks for potential cooperation in space science and technology and capacity building for human spaceflight activities. This took place on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) …

The French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), has opened a liaison and representative office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, marking deeper and strategic relations in space matters between the French agency and the UAE Space Agency.

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.