News Mails - 2013

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 113 Dec/27/2013
http://www.aprsaf.org/
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- * CONTENTS

• 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-20 successfully held
• 2. News on APRSAF: APRSAF online questionnaire underway
• 3. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-21 to be held in Tokyo from Dec 2 to 5
• 4. ISRO's Mars Orbiter placed into Mars Transfer Trajectory
• 5. South Korea determines its space development plan
• 6. The second Open-ended Consultations on International Code of
  Conduct for Outer Space Activities held in Bangkok
• 7. Second ASEAN WS on Ground Station Experts Exchange held in Thailand
• 8. Event Calendar

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* 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-20 successfully held
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The 20th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum
(APRSAF-20) was successfully held from December 3 to 6, 2013, at Melia
Hanoi, Vietnam. It was attended by 420 participants from 28
countries/regions, and 8 international organizations.

Information pertaining to APRSAF-20 such as recommendations,
presentation materials (please see the "program" page), and photo
reports are available on the APRSAF website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/meeting_details.php

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* 2. News on APRSAF: APRSAF online questionnaire underway
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As informed earlier, the APRSAF online questionnaire is now underway.
Your cooperation in responding to the questionnaire to improve APRSAF
activities further will be highly appreciated.

The APRSAF questionnaire (Deadline: Friday, January 17, 2013), can be
accessed through the link below:
http://www.aprsaf.org/20th/questionnaire/

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* 3. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-21 to be held in Tokyo from Dec 2 to 5
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The APRSAF Secretariat is pleased to inform you that its next session,
APRSAF-21, will be held from December 2 to 5, 2014, at the National
Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo, Japan.
Up-to-date information on APRSAF-21 will be posted on the APRSAF
website (http://www.aprsaf.org/), and in addition will be circulated
through our APRSAF News Mail.

- Miraikan website:
http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/

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* 4. ISRO's Mars Orbiter placed into Mars Transfer Trajectory
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On November 5, 2013, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) launched its first Mars
Orbiter Mission (MOM). On November 30, 2013, ISRO carried out Trans
Mars Injection (TMI) maneuvers for its MOM to place the Mars orbiter
from earth orbit to the Mars Transfer Trajectory. MOM's injection into
Mars' orbit is scheduled after it completes a 10-month long travel in
space.

References:
- ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Dec01_2013
- ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission: latest updates
http://www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx

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* 5. South Korea determines its space development plan
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On November 26, 2013, the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future
Planning of South Korea (MSIP), along with relevant ministries and
agencies, held the sixth national space committee and announced that
they deliberated and firmed up major plans, such as "mid-long term
plan for space development," "strategy for industrialization of space
technology," and "revised plan for Korean-made launch vehicle
development."

South Korea successfully launched its LEO launch vehicle (KSLV-1) on
January 30, 2013. To ensure sustainable space development capability,
South Korea has drawn up a comprehensive policy for a paradigm shift
in the field of space as from the beginning of 2013.

Reference:
- MSIP News (in Korean)
http://www.msip.go.kr/www/brd/m_211/view.do?seq=1033&srchFr=&srchTo=&srchWord=&srchTp=&multi_itm_seq=0&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&company_cd=&company_nm=&page=2

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* 6. The second Open-ended Consultations on International Code of
Conduct for Outer Space Activities held in Bangkok
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From November 20 to 22, 2013, the second Open-ended Consultations on
International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities were held in
Bangkok, Thailand, jointly organized by the European Union External
Action (EEAS) and the Thai government. The consultations discussed in
detail the latest draft of the Space Code of Conduct that was amended
(based on the comments of participating countries in the first
consultations in Kiev, Ukraine) and then released on September 16,
2013.

The first consultations in Kiev had seen 140 participants from more
than 60 UN member states. Experts from each country reported the
up-to-date status of space debris, steps for their mitigation, and the need
for a prompt response to avoid collisions between satellites. In
addition, there were question and answer sessions and discussions
based on opinions from each country.

References:
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, Press Release
http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/28/41035-Welcoming-Remarks-by-Deputy-Prime-Minister-and-For.html
- European External Action Service, Outer Space Activities
http://eeas.europa.eu/non-proliferation-and-disarmament/outer-space-activities/index_en.htm

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* 7. Second ASEAN WS on Ground Station Experts Exchange held in Thailand
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On November 28 and 29, 2013, the second ASEAN Workshop on Ground
Station Experts Exchange was hosted by the Geo-Informatics and Space
Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA), at the Space
Krenovation Park, Siracha, Chonburi Province, Thailand. Fifty people,
mainly comprising representatives from ASEAN member countries
participated in the workshop, and exchanged ideas on operating ground
stations of remote sensing satellites and discussed satellite data
utilization. Participants agreed on further cooperation for jointly
enhancing the value of earth observation satellites.

Reference:
- GISTDA News
http://www.gistda.or.th/gistda_n/en/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=722&Itemid=50&year=2013&month=11&day=28&uid=839e5f41606dcd5e4aa3da5cec0a9e0b

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* 8. Event Calendar
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- Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program
(6 January - 7 February 2014, Adelaide, Australia)
http://isunet.edu/programs/southern-hemisphere-program

- The Impact of Galactic Structure on Star Formation
(16-21 February 2014, Sapporo, Japan)
http://astro3.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/igssf2014/

- GeoNext
(26 February 2014, Sydney, Australia)
http://www.geonext.com.au/

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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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We welcome your updates on space-related activities and also your
comments and suggestions to the APRSAF secretariat.

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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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