News Mails - 2013

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 104 Mar/29/2013
http://www.aprsaf.org
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**CONTENTS

 

1. News on APRSAF
- APRSAF Newsletter No. 14
- Interviews with APRSAF community members at APRSAF-19

 

2. LAPAN to establish UN-SPIDER regional office

 

3. MEST releases images from STSAT-2C

 

4. LAPAN announces draft law on space

 

5. KAZCOSMOS and UKSA sign MOU on space

 

6. Event Calendar

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1. News on APRSAF
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- APRSAF Newsletter No. 14
APRSAF Newsletter No. 14 is now available on the APRSAF website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/newsmails_newsletters/letters.php

 

This March 2013 issue features outcomes of APRSAF-19 held in December 2012 in Kuala Lumpur and includes messages from general co-chairs, summary reports from working group co-chairs, a report of the panel discussion held at the Plenary, and a message from Vietnam—the host of the next session, APRSAF-20.

 

We have sent out the printed newsletter to those members whose postal address is registered in our mailing list. Those who wish to subscribe to the printed newsletter from the next issue onward, please visit the following website and fill out the subscription form:
https://www.aprsaf.org/newsmails_newsletters/form/

 

- Interviews with APRSAF community members at APRSAF-19
At APRSAF-19, the APRSAF Secretariat interviewed its participants regarding their APRSAF-related activities. You can read the interviews on the following website:
https://www.aprsaf.org/interviews_features/interviews_2013/
- Mr. Agus Hidayat (Director, Remote Sensing Application Center, LAPAN, Indonesia)
- Mr. Suhermanto S (Director, Satellite Technology Center, LAPAN, Indonesia)
- Mr. Krishna Raj Adhikary (Chairman, Nepal Scientific Activities and Research Center, Nepal)
- Dr. Mohd Alauddin Mohd Ali (Director, Institute of Space Science, UKM, Malaysia)
- Dr. Michael Green (General Manager, Space Policy Unit, DIISRTE, Australia)

 

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2. LAPAN to establish UN-SPIDER regional office
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On February 19, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed an agreement to establish a regional support office (RSO) of the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) in Indonesia. As the first RSO in Southeast Asia, the Indonesian office will manage the disaster management program in cooperation with other RSOs by taking advantage of LAPAN’s expertise in remote-sensing applications in the fields of disaster mitigation/climate change model, environmental monitoring, and natural resources management.

 

Reference:
LAPAN News (in Indonesian)
http://www.lapan.go.id/doc_news/UNOOSA_190213.html

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3. MEST releases images from STSAT-2C
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On March 4, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Korea (MEST) announced that the Naro Science Satellite (STSAT-2C)—launched by KSLV-1 in January—has completed its one-month initial phase in orbit and is operating normally. Further, MEST published two images of Korean Peninsula and China, taken by the infrared sensor on the satellite on the following MEST blog.

 

Reference:
MEST blog
http://if-blog.tistory.com/2525

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4. LAPAN announces draft law on space
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On February 20, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN) announced a draft national space law to promote space activities in Indonesia. The draft indicates four major fields of space activities—space science, remote sensing, space technology, and launch vehicle.

 

References:
LAPAN News (in Indonesian)
http://www.lapan.go.id/doc_news/RUU_Keantariksaan.html
Rancangan Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia (pdf, 360kB)
http://tdjamaluddin.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ruu-antariksa-final-harmonisasi-22-nov-2011.pdf

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5. KAZCOSMOS and UKSA sign an MOU on space
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On March 7, at the 14th Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) and NovaSAR International Conference in London, the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KAZCOSMOS) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) on an outline of areas where the two countries would cooperate in space activities. The MOU includes the following proposed cooperative projects:
- Capacity-building of Kazakhstan personnel in satellite engineering and operations.
- Promotion of collaboration between Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary (Kazgharysh) and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in the fields of space science, technology demonstration, communication, navigation, and earth observation.
- Facilitating discussion on topics related to ongoing space activities between Kazgharysh and SSTL.

 

References:
UKSA News
http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2013/Mar/uk-and-kazakhstan-agree-collaboration-in-space
14th DMC and NovaSAR International Conference
http://www.spaceconference.co.uk/

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6. Event Calendar
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- 35th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE32)
(22-26 April 2013, Beijing, China)
http://www.isrse35.org/

 

- 29th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science
(2-9 June 2013, Nagoya, Japan)
http://www.ists.or.jp/2013/

 

- SPICA Science Conference 2013
(18-21 June 2013, Tokyo, Japan)
http://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/SPICA/spica2013/

 

- Feeding, Feedback, and Fireworks: Celebrating Our Cosmic Landscape
(24-28 June 2013, Hamilton Island, Australia)
http://www.aao.gov.au/conferences/fireworks/

 

- International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 2013)
(21-26 July 2013, Melbourne, Australia)
http://www.igarss2013.org/

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Copyright 2013 The APRSAF Secretariat

APRSAF News Mails are distributed to update the readers on recent developments in space-related activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

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