Singapore to establish 1st national space agency in April

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Singapore will establish its first national space agency in April in a bid to sharpen the country’s capabilities in an increasingly competitive global space economy, local media reported Monday.

The National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS), to be formed on April 1, will have a multi-agency operations center that will support government agencies with satellite tasking, or requesting satellite imagery of a specific location, and geospatial data analytics, said Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng.

Speaking at the opening of the country’s inaugural Space Summit, Tan said that Singapore will also look into further developing its constellation of satellites to meet national needs and specific situations in which they could be used across the equatorial region, The Straits Times reported.

“Our geographical location positions us to do more in this region,” he added.

The government currently co-owns three earth observation satellites with defense and engineering group ST Engineering.

NSAS will also develop national legislation and regulations for the space sector.

Tan said the agency aims to be pro-innovation and pro-business while meeting high standards for space safety and sustainability.

Since 2022, Singapore has set aside more than S$200 million ($157 million) for space R&D projects, supporting research institutes and companies in developing and testing their space technologies.