News Mails - 2013

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 111 Nov/8/2013
http://www.aprsaf.org/
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- * CONTENTS

• 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-20 Registration to close soon and WGs' proposed
  outline placed on the website
• 2. News on APRSAF: Newsletter No. 16 is out
• 3. News on APRSAF: SAFE activities at ACRS2013
• 4. News from APRSAF Community: Malaysian winners of the space seed program
• 5. India successfully launches Mars Orbiter Mission
• 6. Winners of the Korean cubesat competition selected
• 7. VAST and VNU-UET sign space technology program 2013-2015
• 8. India and Indonesia agree on a strategic partnership in space
• 9. Event Calendar

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* 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-20 Registration to close soon and WGs' proposed
outline placed on the website
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As informed, the 20th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space
Agency Forum (APRSAF-20) will be held from December 3 to 6, 2013. The
online registration has been extended due to popular demand but will
be closed shortly, so those who have not yet registered, especially
those who require a visa, are requested to fill out the registration
form (https://www.prime-pco.com/aprsaf20/registration.html) as soon as
possible. Information on visas and accommodations, as well as other
information necessary for participants, is available at the following
website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/registration.php

The proposed outlines of APRSAF working groups and initiatives have
been available on the following website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/working_groups.php
*The outlines of Sentinel Asia, SAFE, Climate R3 can be found in the
Earth Observation Working Group page
(http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/working_groups_eowg_ap.php) and the outline
of Kibo-ABC can be found in the Space Environment Utilization Working
Group page
(http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/working_groups_seuwg_ap.php)

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* 2. News on APRSAF: Newsletter No. 16 is out
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The APRSAF Newsletter No. 16 has been sent out. In this issue, we
feature the following:
- APRSAF-20 (Meeting details, Message from Vietnam, APRSAF Side Events)
- New opportunities to launch satellites (Vietnam's PicoDragon is to
be deployed from Kibo, Launch of the Epsilon launch vehicle)
- The SSAF2013 progress report, including two interviews (SSAF2013
science advisor, Dr. Kouichi Soga, Associate Professor at the
Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City
University; and Mr. Budhi Kurniawan of CONNECT Asia)
- Message to the APRSAF Community from Dr. Shamika Sirimanne, Director
of Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk
Reduction Division, UNESCAP

The Newsletter is available in PDF format on the following website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/newsmails_newsletters/pdf/Newsletter16.pdf

If you wish to subscribe to our newsletter, please complete the following online subscription form:
https://www.aprsaf.org/newsmails_newsletters/form/

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* 3. News on APRSAF: SAFE activities at ACRS2013
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The 34th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing 2013 (ACRS2013) was held
from October 20 to 24, in Bali, Indonesia. At a workshop on crop
monitoring (http://www.acrs2013.com/food-security-geoglam-asiarice-and-crop-monitoring-aprsaf-safe.html),
progress reports were presented for two of the SAFE ongoing
prototyping projects: one about a drought monitoring system, by the
Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and
Development; and the other about rice crop monitoring in the Mekong
Delta, by the HCMC Institute of Resources Geography, Vietnam Academy
of Science and Technology. At a special session on capacity building,
Dr. Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo, one of the technical
supporters of the SAFE initiative, reported a data analyzing and
processing method that was used in SAFE projects in Lao PDR and
Vietnam.

ACRS2013
http://www.acrs2013.com/
SAFE
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/SAFE/

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* 4. News from APRSAF Community: Malaysian winners of the space seed program
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On October 3, 2013, the National Space Agency of Malaysia (ANGKASA)
announced the winners of Malaysia Space Seed 2013 (MASS2013), which is
one of the local programs of SSAF2013, conducted by the APRSAF
Kibo-ABC initiative (SSAF: http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kuoa/ssaf/).

The names of the winners, three from primary schools and three from
secondary schools, can be found on the following ANGKASA website:
http://www.angkasa.gov.my/?q=en/node/698

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* 5. India successfully lances Mars Orbiter Mission
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On November 5, 2013, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
launched its first Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) by the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25). The spacecraft completed its first
orbit-raising maneuver on November 7. It is scheduled to be put into
the Mars orbit in September 2014. The MOM will observe Martian surface,
atmosphere and exosphere for further understanding of the development
of Mars.

References:
ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission Latest Updates
http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx
The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-orbiter-begins-long-voyage-to-mars/article5316983.ece

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* 6. Winners of the Korean cubesat competition selected
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On September 17, 2013, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
Planning of Korea (MSIP) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute
(KARI) announced the three winners of the final selection of the 2013
Cubesat Contest. The contest, targeted at undergraduate and graduate
students, has a two-step selection process. In the first step, six
teams were selected out of a total of ten teams from eight
universities, and in the second step, the three winners were selected.

Support will be provided to the selected three universities for the
necessary costs of the cubesat production and launch preparation. In
addition, there are plans to provide a launch opportunity when the
cubesat development is completed.

Reference:
- MSIP News (in Korean)
http://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=714145&ected=

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* 7. VAST and VNU-UET sign space technology program 2013-2015
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On September 19, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST)
and several institutes, such as the Vietnam National University -
University of Engineering and Technology (VNU-UET) signed their
respective contracts on the implementation of a national space
technology program from 2013 to 2015. Prof. Duong Ngoc Hai, Vice
president of VAST and a representative from the Ministry of Science
and Technology, attended the signing ceremony.

References:
- VAST News (in Vietnamese)
http://vast.ac.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/tin-vien/1711-le-ky-hop-dong-thuc-hien-nhiem-vu-thuoc-chuong-trinh-khcn-doc-lap-cap-nha-nuoc-ve-cong-nghe-vu-tru-thuc-hien-tu-nam-2013-2015
- VNU-UET News (in Vietnamese)
http://www2.uet.vnu.edu.vn/uet/taxonomy/term/278/2296

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* 8. India and Indonesia agree on a strategic partnership in space
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On October 11, 2013, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono discussed bilateral and
regional cooperation and agreed on the reinforcement of the two
countries' strategic relationship during Mr. Singh's official visit to
Indonesia. Under the agreement, India and Indonesia will conduct five
initiatives on strategic cooperation, including the space field,
security, economic partnership, and other issues. Regarding space
matters, they agreed to strengthen cooperation between the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Institute of
Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN).

References:
- Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
http://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/22318
http://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/22307/Opening+Statement+by+Prime+Minister+at+11th+IndiaASEAN+Summit+in+Brunei+Darussalam

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* 9. Event Calendar
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- 1st COSPAR Symposium
(11-15 November 2013, Bangkok, Thailand)
http://cospar2013.gistda.or.th/

- Pacific GIS&RS Conference
(18-22 November 2013, Lami, Fiji Islands)
http://picgisrs.appspot.com/

- APISAT-2013
(20-22 November 2013, Takamatsu, Japan)
http://www.jsass.or.jp/apisat2013/index.html

- The 5th nano-satelite symposium
(20-22 November 2013, Tokyo, Japan)
http://www.nanosat.jp/

- The 1st UNISEC-Global Meeting
(23-25 November 2013, Tokyo, Japan)
http://unisec-global.org/

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Copyright 2013 The APRSAF Secretariat

APRSAF News Mails are distributed to update the readers on
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APRSAF Secretariat
c/o Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
ochanomizu sola city, 4-6 Kandasurugadai, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 101-8008 Japan
Tel: +81-50-3362-5880 / Fax: +81-3-5209-3208
E-mail: secretariataprsaf.org
Web: http://www.aprsaf.org
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