SINGAPORE: Singapore will set up a national space agency in April, Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng announced on Monday (Feb 2).
The National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) will provide decisive leadership for Singapore to seize opportunities in the expanding space economy and the new possibilities posed by democratised access to outer space, he said at the inaugural Space Summit.
“For Singapore, our journey in space technology dates back over 50 years,” said Dr Tan, who is also manpower minister.
The NSAS will allow Singapore to “unlock the full potential of space technology applications for Singapore’s national and regional needs”, while keeping its assets safe in an increasingly congested space environment, he added.
SATELLITES AND LEGISLATION
The government currently co-owns three Earth observation satellites with ST Engineering.
“We will establish a multi-agency operations centre that will support government agencies with satellite tasking and bespoke geospatial data analytics,” he said.
This could benefit areas such as port operations, urban planning, environment monitoring and food security, he said.
“Looking ahead, Singapore will explore further developing our constellation of satellites to meet national needs as well as use cases across the Equatorial Belt – as our geographical location positions us to do more in this region,” said Dr Tan.
In an increasingly congested space domain, Singapore will also ensure the safety of its space assets by progressively building up and operating space situational awareness capabilities, he said.