Tag Archives: Space Policy

China's government is considering building a commercial space launch centre for the country's New Space private launch companies, a number of which will be attempting their first orbital flights by the end of 2018, according to a report by Andrew Jones in GBTimes.

The UAE Space Agency is preparing a comprehensive strategy for investing in the country's space sector, in cooperation with relevant UAE federal and individual Emirate authorities, and which will be released in October 2018.

The past few years have seen the satellite press column inches dominated by excited talk of new mega constellations. We have learned how thousands of small satellites are going to transform connectivity for billions around the world. I should know, I am one of the people that have been excitedly scribbling about it. But now that the dust has settled on the flurry of news of the constellations that are in the pipeline, where are we now?

The Philippines is on the verge of creating its own national space agency after a prominent Filipino politician sponsored legislation in the Senate plenary of Senate Bill 1983, or the “Act Establishing the Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and Creating the Philippine Space Agency, and for other Purposes,” earlier in September 2018.

The Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) officially launched operations on 12 September 2018 with the goal of promoting the further economic development of the Grand Duchy’s space industry by attracting businesses, developing human resources, providing innovative financial solutions, and supporting educational and research infrastructure.

Myanmar is mulling creating its own national space agency and the acquisition of an Earth observation small satellite with the assistance of Hokkaido University in Japan. Myanma engineers and scientists are set to take part in the manufacture and integration of some the components and instruments, according to reports in the Myanma media.

The Israeli government has made the decision to subsidize Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in designing and building a communications satellite following the decision by Spacecom earlier this year to tap U.S. satellite manufacturer Space Systems Loral (SSL) to build its AMOS-8 satellite instead of giving the contract to IAI.

Indonesia’s space agency, Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional (LAPAN), has announced that it intends to launch an indigenous space launch vehicle (SLV) by 2040 with the ability to insert a 1-ton satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), according to SpaceTech Asia.

SpaceWatch.Global last spoke to Gernot Groemer, Founder and Administrative Director of the Austrian Space Forum last year when we covered the Forum’s work and activities on the Mars Analogue missions.

The Japanese government has issued the 2018 policy guidelines for national defence that emphasises the growing threats emanating from China, North Korea, and Russia in the cyberspace and space domains.