News Mails - 2014

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ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 114 Jan/31/2014
http://www.aprsaf.org/
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- * CONTENTS

• 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-21 website open, etc.
• 2. News on APRSAF: 6th SAFE WS to be held in April 2014
• 3. News on APRSAF: Candidate themes for Try Zero-G selected
• 4. News on APRSAF: Report of ICSANE 2013, an APRSAF-20 side event, available
• 5. News from APRSAF community: Singapore's second satellite launched
• 6. ISRO launches GSAT-14 by GSLV-D5
• 7. Vietnam conducts study for establishing space law
• 8. Event Calendar

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* 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-21 website open, etc.
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As already communicated, APRSAF-21 will be held from December 2 to 5,
2014, in Tokyo, Japan. A web page for the session is available at the
following URL:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf21/meeting_details.php
For up-to-date information on APRSAF-21, please visit the website.

The online APRSAF questionnaire has closed. The APRSAF secretariat
would like to thank everyone who has responded to the questionnaire.
The responses will be utilized to improve APRSAF.

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* 2. News on APRSAF: 6th SAFE WS to be held in April 2014
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The 6th Space Applications For Environment (SAFE) workshop will be
held on April 23, 2014, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The workshop will
be co-organized by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the SAFE
secretariat. SAFE will have a special session on April 22, 2014, at
the 7th IGRSM International Conference and Exhibition on Remote
Sensing & GIS.

The SAFE secretariat is currently accepting new proposals for SAFE
prototype projects. The deadline is February 28, 2014.

For details, please visit the SAFE portal:
- Announcement of 6th SAFE WS
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/SAFE/events/6th_ws_igrsm.html
- Call for proposals
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/SAFE/events/call_for_proposals_6thws.html

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* 3. News on APRSAF: Candidate themes for Try Zero-G selected
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The candidate themes have been selected for the Try Zero-G program.
Try Zero-G is an educational program organized by member agencies of
the Kibo-ABC initiative. An astronaut will conduct in-orbit
experiments on themes selected from a range submitted by students in
the Asia-Pacific region.

Out of the 45 proposals received from five countries, three themes
were selected. The experiments are expected to be carried out by JAXA
astronaut Koichi Wakata no later than early March 2014.

For details, please refer to the following link of the KUOA website:
http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kuoa/news/140114.html

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* 4. News on APRSAF: Report of ICSANE 2013, an APRSAF-20 side event, available
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A report on ICSANE 2013, one of the APRSAF-20 side events, is
available at the link below:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf20/side_events.php

The two-day event was held at VAST/VNSC on December 2, 2013, and at
Melia Hanoi on December 3, 2013. The event on the second day was a
joint session with the APRSAF CSA working group.

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* 5. News from APRSAF community: Singapore's second satellite launched
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Singapore now has a second satellite -- like its predecessor, built by
the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) of Nanyang Technological
University (NTU) -- orbiting in space.

Wholly designed and built by NTU students, this satellite, named
VELOX-PII, lifted off on board Russia's rocket (Dnepr) at 3:10 p.m.
Singapore time (7:10 a.m. coordinated universal time, UTC) on Thursday,
November 21, 2013. The satellite has been functioning well since then.
The satellite team has conducted various experiments on the satellite,
such as navigation algorithm, attitude determination system using fine
sun sensor designed in-house, and attitude control system.

Launched from the Yasny Launch Base located in the Orenburg Region,
Russia, the VELOX-PII is NTU's second satellite in space under the
leadership of Professor Low KS, the center director of the SaRC.
Singapore launched its first locally built satellite -- the X-SAT,
developed by SaRC and DSO National Laboratories -- into space on April
20, 2011. SaRC completed building its third satellite, VELOX-I, a
nano-satellite, in late 2013 and is awaiting a launch opportunity for
2014.

For more details, click on the link below:
http://www.sarc.eee.ntu.edu.sg/Pages/Home.aspx

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* 6. ISRO launches GSAT-14 by GSLV-D5
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On January 5, 2014, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
successfully launched GSAT-14, a communication satellite, onboard the
launch vehicle GSLV-D5, which mounted the Indigenous Cryogenic Upper
Stage. The satellite has successfully completed its raising operations
to be placed in its designated orbit.

References:
- ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Jan06_2014
- ISRO Post Launch Updates
http://www.isro.org/gslv-d5/d5-post-updates.aspx
- ISRO, GSLV-D5/GSAT-14 Mission Brochure
http://www.isro.org/gslv-d5/pdf/brochure.pdf

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* 7. Vietnam conducts study for establishing space law
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The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) announced that
Professors Nguyen Hong Thao and Nguyen Ba Dien of Vietnam National
University, Hanoi, had conducted a research project concerning the
establishment of a national space law. This project was carried out in
order to address a pressing need in Vietnam to develop laws on the
research and utilization of space technologies for the peaceful use of
outer space. The establishment of a national space law is one of the
objectives of the strategy on the research and application of space
technologies between 2008 and 2020; the Vietnamese government approved
it in 2006. The project studied the existing space laws of other
countries and heard opinions from experts on an appropriate framework
for a national space law.

Several frameworks were proposed as part of the project, and the
majority of the participants agreed on a space law that stipulated the
basics and some supplementary provisions. Based on the results of the
initial research, a space law will be developed in close cooperation
between the relevant departments under the direction of governmental
entities, including the Vietnam Space Committee.

Reference:
- VAST News (in Vietnamese)
http://vast.ac.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/tin-khoa-hoc/trong-nuoc/1798-nhie-m-vu-xay-dung-hoan-thien-khung-phap-luat-quoc-gia-ve-su-dung-khoang-khong-vu-tru-vi-muc-dich-hoa-binh

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* 8. Event Calendar
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- Global Space & Technology Convention (GSTC) 2014
(5-7 February 2014, Singapore)
http://www.gstcsingapore.com/

- 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
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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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