News Mails - 2012

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail -No. 090 Jan/31/2012
http://www.aprsaf.org
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**CONTENTS

1. APRSAF-19 to be held in December 2012 in Malaysia

2. APRSAF questionnaire closed

3. ISRO opens Mission Control Centre and Launch Control Centre

4. Formosat-5 to be launched in 2014 and Formosat-7 in 2015 and 2017

5. South Korea to launch KSLV-1 in Oct 2012

6. Kazakhstan's president signs amendment bills on space activities

7. Event Calendar

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1. APRSAF-19 to be held in December 2012 in Malaysia
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As announced at APRSAF-18 in Singapore, the nineteenthsession of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-19) will be held from December 11 to 14, 2012, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Further information on APRSAF-19 will be posted on the APRSAF website.

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2.  APRSAF questionnaire closed
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The APRSAF online questionnaire has been closed. We, the APRSAF Secretariat, would like to express our gratitude to all our colleagues who took the time to provide their valuable comments by filling in the questionnaire. The answers we received will be used for the further improvement of APRSAF.

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3. ISRO opens Mission Control Centre and Launch Control Centre
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On January 2, 2012, the Indian Space Research Institution (ISRO) announced that it inaugurated the new Mission Control Centre and Launch Control Centre at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC). At the opening ceremony, the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, delivered a speech in which she discussed the utilization of remote sensing technology in the realm of agriculture and the need for an early-warning system for climate change and disasters. She also mentioned the importance of international cooperation and expressed her pleasure on learning that other countries had also ordered their satellites to be launched by ISRO.

References:
- ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.gov.in/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Jan02_2012

- ISRO News President's Speech as SDSC SHAR (PDF)
http://www.isro.gov.in/pdf/Presidents_Address_at_SDSC_Sriharikota.pdf

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4. Formosat-5 to be launched in 2014 and Formosat-7 in 2015 and 2017
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According to CNA News of December 24, 2011, the National Space Organization of Taiwan (NSPO) plans to launch FORMOSAT-5, an indigenous earth observation satellite carrying a remote sensing instrument and other scientific payloads such as the Magnetic Field Instrument in 2014, and FORMOSAT-7 in 2015 and 2017. FORMOSAT-7, a joint constellation program between Taiwan and the US, consists of 12 meteorological satellites to be launched in two separate groups, in 2015 and 2017.

References:
- CNA News
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201112250006

- EUMETSAT (pdf file)
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/AboutEUMETSAT/Publications/ ConferenceandWorkshopProceedings/2011/groups/cps/documents/document/pdf_conf_p59_s1_01_yen_v.pdf

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5. South Korea to launch KSLV-1 in Oct 2012
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South Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) reportedly announced on December 20, 2011, that KARI and a Russian company, Khrunichev, had held a technology consultation about the third launch of KSLV-1, a South Korean launch vehicle, and had agreed to launch it in October 2012. KSLV-1 had previously been launched twice, in August 2009 and June 2010, and both launches ended in failure.

References:
- YTN Science (in Korean)
http://www.sciencetv.kr/program/program_view.php?s_mcd=0184&s_hcd=&key=201112211031566111

- Yonhap News (in Korean)
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2011/12/20/0303000000AKR20111220171100017.HTML?template=2087

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6. Kazakhstan's president signs amendment bills on space activities
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On January 6, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, ratified amendments to a part of Kazakhstan's space activities act and its related laws. The amendment to the act establishes a legislative framework for social security for astronauts and candidates as well as the government's responsibility for the selection of astronaut candidates, and the amendment to the related laws aims to facilitate the development of legislation promoting economic growth in the field of space activities.

References:
- Kazcosmos News (in Russian)
http://www.kazcosmos.kz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=655%3Aukazom-glavy-gosudarstva-podpisany-zakony-respubliki-kazaxstan-lo-kosmicheskoj-deyatelnostir-i-lo-vnesenii-izmenenij-i-dopolnenij-v-nekotorye-zakonodatelnye-akty-respubliki-kazaxstan-po-voprosam-kosmicheskoj-deyatelnostir&catid=3%3Anovosti-kazkosmosa&lang=ru

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7. Event Calendar
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-Global Space & Technology Convention (GSTC) 2012
(9-10 February 2012, Singapore)
http://www.gstcsingapore.com/

-The Second AKARI Conference
(27-29 February 2012, Jeju, Korea)
http://uju.snu.ac.kr/AKARI-2/index.htm

-39th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
(14-22 July 2012, Karnataka, India)
http://www.cospar2012india.org/Default.aspx

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Copyright 2012 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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