Tag Archives: Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

A Japanese military satellite payload, DSN-1, a dedicated military communications payload for the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD), was successfully launched into orbit on-board a SKY Perfect JSAT Superbird-8 communications satellite by Arianespace on 5 April 2018.

How should India approach Chinese efforts to develop antisatellite (ASAT) weapons and its ambition to establish space superiority? In a talk given to the Observer Research Foundation’s Space Security conference in New Delhi on 16 February, 2018, ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon offers a few suggestions. For those who have just …

India and France have announced a broad and strategic space cooperation agreement to guide their developing bilateral strategic partnership. This Joint Vision for Space Cooperation includes both existing and new joint mechanisms, with inter-agency representation led by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French National Space Agency (CNES) respectively. The progress and outcomes will be reported to the bilateral Indo-French Strategic Dialogue for review and assessment.

France and India have agreed to cooperate on space-based maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. This decision to increase cooperation is seen as a geopolitical countermove to what many Indian analysts believe are increasing attempts by China to gain superiority in the Indian Ocean. France and India will now …

With China’s Belt and Road Initiative coming under criticism, and a proposed infrastructure programme in the offing from the so-called ‘Quad’ powers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, ThorGroup GmbH Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, argues that the Quad powers tap the potential of their NewSpace …

With growing geopolitical risk, a stricter regulatory environment, and new technologies such as Blockchain, how and where sovereign data is stored and accessed is an increasingly important issue for governments and companies. ThorGroup Chairman and President Dr. John B. Sheldon examines the security claims of new diplomatic and commercial concepts for storing sovereign data …

The success of Galileo and Copernicus have galvanised the space ambitions of the European Union and given it the impetus to build on its achievements. This was very evident at the recent annual European Space Policy Conference that was held in Brussels from 24-25 January, 2018. Here, space policy analyst, …

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 …

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 …

After a fraught launch on January 25, 2018, where Arianespace failed to receive telemetry from the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle (SLV) at a critical stage during liftoff, the two satellites placed into Earth orbit by the launcher are said to be recoverable. Both Yahsat and SES have stated that …