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1. [[Hot Topic]]
The 27th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2006) held in Ulan Bator,
Mongolia, from 9 to 13 October 2006

2. [[Asian Space Update 1]]
Visit to SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) in India

3. [[Asian Space Update 2]]
Activities of MACRES (Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing, Malaysia)

4. [[Asian Space Update 3]]
Activities of GISTDA (Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, Thailand)

5. [[Asian Space Update 4]]
Successful Launch of Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2)

6. [[ Event Information and APRSAF Website Updates [October 2006 ]]

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1. [[Hot Topic]]
The 27th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2006) held in Ulan Bator,
Mongolia from 9 to 13 October 2006
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The 5-day conference began with the opening speech of Minister of Education, Culture and Science of Mongolia Dr. Oe. Enkhtuvshin at the Cultural Palace in Ulan Bator from 10 am of 9 October.

At the opening ceremony, a video was shown about the history of the Mongol-Russian first space flight. There was also a performance by a group of Mongolian youngsters.

During the 5-day conference, there were sessions by each application related to remote sensing in which the participants debated eagerly.

The students of participating countries presented in each session the results of their investigations on remote sensing.

Dr. M. Saandar, the conference chairman and president (Mongolian Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), commented that environmental monitoring of forest fires and other disasters had so far been done with NOAA data mainly, but that recently high-resolution satellite data such as Quick Bird, IKONOS, SPOT and Landsat are being used to get more detailed information about the environment in Mongolia. He also said that the satellite data are now used for GIS at universities. The video interview of Dr. M. Saandar will be uploaded in the APRSAF website soon.

ACRS2006
Date: Five days from Monday 9 to Friday 13 October 2006.
Place: Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Participants: About 380 persons
Participating countries: 22
*Participating countries were Mongolia, Japan, China, Taiwan, India, Thai, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Switzerland, UK, US, Germany, Netherlands, and France.

Main presented themes (technical presentation by theme)
*Agriculture *Data Processing *Disaster *Environment/Ecosystem *Forest
*Geology *GIS *Hydrology/Water *Land Use/Land Cover *Mapping
*Oceanography/Meteorology *Photogrammetry/Lidar *SAR *Satellite System
*Urban *Poster

Also during the conference, 19 remote sensing-related organisations and companies from nine countries made exhibitions.

The next conference ACRS2007 is scheduled for November 2007 in Malaysia.

For details, see:
ACRS2006: http://www.acrs2006.mn/
ACRS2007: http://www.macres.gov.my/acrs2007

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2. [[Asian Space Update 1]]
Visit to SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) in India
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In 1969, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) established a satellite launch station in Sriharikota, about 80 km north of Chennai, India. Features like good launch azimuth corridor for various missions, advantage of earth's rotation for eastward launchings, nearness to the equator, and large uninhabited areas as safety zones make Sriharikota Range, popularly known as "SHAR", an ideal spaceport. On 5 September 2002, ISRO was renamed Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in memory of the former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation Prof. Satish Dhawan.

This centre has the functions of partially mounting and testing satellites, launching rockets, and launching satellites at short intervals using a comprehensive and rational system.

The SDSC has a unique combination of facilities, such as a solid propellant production plant, a rocket motor static test laboratory, launch complexes for a variety of rockets, telemetry, telecommand, tracking, data acquisition and processing, as well as other support services.
The first flight-test of "Rohini-125", a small sounding rocket, took place from SDSC on 9 October 1971. Since then the facilities were expanded to meet the growing needs of ISRO and a new launch pad is now under construction.

The centre plans to launch in November the Indian earth-observation satellite Cartosa-2 and the small Indonesian satellite LAPAN-TUBSAT using the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle).

APRSAF secretariat also visited the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore, where it interviewed Director of Publications & Public Relations Mr. S. Krishnamurthy about the present situation of the ISRO and its future plans. He talked about present operational space systems including Indian National Satellite (INSAT) for tele-communication, television broadcasting, meteorology and disaster warning, and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) for resources monitoring and management.
He also introduced ISRO's co-operative arrangements covering several countries and space agencies.

Video interview in APRSAF’s website
http://www.aprsaf.org/interview/interview_04.html

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR Website:
http://www.isro.org/centers/cen_shar.htm

ISRO HQ Website:
http://www.isro.org/index.htm

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3. [[Asian Space Update 2]]
Activities of MACRES (Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing, Malaysia)
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APRSAF secretariat visited MACRES to interview Mr. Ir. Jaafar Ahmad (Operations Deputy Director), Ms. Salmah Binti Kasim (Corporate Division Head) and Mr. Jimat Bolhassan (Spacial Data Analysis and Modeling Head).

MACRES was established in August 1988 as an R&D centre and was fully operational in January 1990 to develop remote sensing and related technologies and make their applications operational for effective and efficient socio-economic development, natural resources and disaster management, and strategic planning of the country.

Its vision is to be a leader and an internationally recognized centre of excellence in the advancement and application of remote sensing and related technologies.

APRSAF website introduces its establishment and future plans, organisation and the operation of remote sensing and ground receiving stations.

Also, the Malaysia Space Centre was established on 4 October 2006 to receive and process the data of the remote sensing satellite "RazakSAT" which will be launched in 2007 and have a function of Mission Control Station (MCS), according to ATSB [Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd.] of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (http://www.atsb-malaysia.com.my/index.asp)

Related announcement :
http://www.mosti.gov.my/

MACRES website:
http://www.macres.gov.my/

Interview with MACRES
http://www.aprsaf.org/interview/interview_03.htm

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4. [[Asian Space Update 3]]
Activities of GISTDA (Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, Thailand)
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APRSAF secretariat visited the headquarters and the ground station of GISTDA and interviewed Director of User Service and Business Development Office Mrs. Praneet Ditsariyakul and Director of Earth Observation Centre Mr. Chaiyan Maolanont.

The GISTDA was established as a public organisation by combining Thailand Remote Sensing Program (TRSP) and the GIS Branch of the Ministry of Science and Technology to conduct activities related to space technology development and geo-informatics of the country.

APRSAF website introduces the establishment, its organisation and main business (mission). It also introduces the Thailand Satellite "THEOS" including data utilisation.

You can also find the history of its ground station and satellite data reception as well as its cooperation with other countries and future plans.

GISTDA website:
http://www.gistda.or.th/

Interview with GISTDA
http://www.aprsaf.org/interview/interview_02.html

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5. [[Asian Space Update 4]]
Successful launch of Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2)
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported on 14 October 2006 according to the information from Arianespacethat that the Ariane 5 vehicle carrying JAXA's Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2) had been launched for experiments in space at 5:56 am on 14 October 2006 (Japan Standard Time) from French Guiana, South America, and that it had flown normally.

Information on the LDREX-2 deployment experiment will be given as soon as JAXA receives the test data, expected not earlier than 16 October (JST).

*Source
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/10/20061014_ldrex-2_e.html

You can also find this information in the following website:
http://www.arianespace.com/site/index2.html
http://www.jaxa.jp/missions/projects/sat/tsushin/ets8/index_e.html

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6. [[ Event Information and APRSAF Website Updates [October 2006 ]]
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< Event Information >
* Oct 20-21, 2006
Geoinformatics 2006
Wuhang, Hubei Province, China
http://www.lmars.whu.edu.cn/geoinformatics2006/index.html

* Oct 23-25, 2006
20th Committee on Data for Science and Technology Conference
Beijing, China
http://www.codataweb.org/06conf/

* Oct 26-28, 2006
Open Solutions in Public Administration
New Delhi, India
http://www.egovworld.org/asiaospa/

* Oct 28-29, 2006
14th International Conference on Geoinformatics
Wuhan, China
http://www.acpgis.org/programs/geoinformatics2006/

* Oct 30-31, 2006
ASEAN-ROK Training Workshop on the Use of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Product
Seoul, Korea
http://www.astnet.org/index.php?name=Main&file=events&eid=47

< APRSAF Website Updates >
<< Newly Added Information >>

- Previous Interviews
http://www.aprsaf.org/interview/pre_interview.html

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Copyright 2006 The APRSAF Secretariat

APRSAF Secretariat

c/o. Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan
Roppongi First Bldg. 12F, 1-9-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032,
Japan

Telephone: +(81 3)5572-6708
Fax: +(81 3)5572-6707