News Mails - 2015

---***------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
News Mail No. 133 Oct/6/2015
http://www.aprsaf.org/
------------------------------------------------------------***---

- * CONTENTS

• 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-22 Second Announcement Released and Registration Opened
• 2. News on APRSAF: SAFE New Project Kicked Off
• 3. News from APRSAF Community: Clinostat Experiment Competition for Students in Indonesia
• 4. Event Calendar
• 5. UNOOSA and Kyutech to Accept Students for Nano Satellite Program
• 6. UNOOSA and JAXA to Provide Launch Opportunities for CubeSats
• 7. ASTROSAT and LAPAN-A2 Launched Successfully
• 8. UNESCAP Launches E-learning for Disaster Management

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 1. News on APRSAF: APRSAF-22 Second Announcement Released and Registration Opened
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

Following the first announcement, the second announcement of APRSAF-22, including updated programs, concept notes of Working Groups and Initiatives, and travel information, is now available online:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf22/meeting_details.php

Online registration for APRSAF-22 is open at the following URL:
http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf22/registration.php

To complete all of the preparations for the APRSAF-22 on schedule, we would like you to complete the online registration no later than Saturday, October 31, 2015.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 2. News on APRSAF: SAFE New Project Kicked Off
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

A kick-off meeting of a new prototyping project in Malaysia, "Efficient Oil Palm Management Prototyping Using 3D GIS," was held on August 21, 2015, followed by its field survey the next day. The new project was adopted at the 7th SAFE workshop held in June in Vietnam.

The workshop was attended by 20 participants including executers, end-users, and other related parties, who shared information on expected benefits of the project and end-user requirements for space-based applications of their oil palm management processes.

Reference:
- SAFE Portal
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/SAFE/events/kickoff_malaysia_20150821_report.html

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 3. News from APRSAF Community: Clinostat Experiment Competition for Students in Indonesia
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

The Scientific Writing Competition for high school students in Indonesia, "Clinostat Experiment, Space Simulation on Life Science," is under way. Five finalists selected from 28 proposals are now preparing for the final competition on October 10, 2015.

This competition is held in cooperation with the School of Life Sciences & Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN).

For further information, please visit the JAXA's Kibo-Utilization Office for Asia (KUOA) website:
http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kuoa/news/150911.html

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 4. Event Calendar
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

- 66th International Astronautical Congress
(October 12-16, 2015, Jerusalem, Israel)
http://www.iac2015.org/

- The 36th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS)
(October 19-23, 2015, Manila, Philippines)
https://www.acrs2015.org/

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 5. UNOOSA and Kyutech to Accept Students for Nano Satellite Program
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and Kyushu Institute of Technology of Japan (Kyutech) is accepting Masters/Doctoral students from developing or non-space-faring countries under a United Nations/Japan Long-term Fellowship Programme on Nano-Satellite Technologies called the "Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST)." Applications are now being accepted until January 24, 2016 for the program starting from October 2016.

The selected candidates will enroll in the Space Engineering International Course of Kyutech, and will have opportunities to research nano-satellite systems using Kyutech facilities. The program duration is 2 years for the Masters course and 3 years for the Doctorate course.

References:
- UNOOSA website
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/psa/bsti/fellowships.html
- Kyutech website
http://cent.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/unitednations.html

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 6. UNOOSA and JAXA to Provide Launch Opportunities for CubeSats
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

On September 9, 2015, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that they had agreed to cooperate in providing launch opportunities from the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" of the International Space Station (ISS) for cube satellites (CubeSats) developed by developing countries. Kibo has a unique piece of equipment to deploy satellites from the ISS, the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD), and the joint initiative, "KiboCube," utilizes it for contributing to the improvement of space technology in countries with no launch ability.

References:
- UNOOSA Press Release
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/informationfor/media/2015-unis-os-458.html
- JAXA Press Release
http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2015/09/20150908_unoosa.html
- JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD)
http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kiboexp/jssod/

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 7. ASTROSAT and LAPAN-A2 Launched Successfully
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

On September 28, 2015, India's Astronomy Satellite ASTROSAT and Indonesia's microsatellite LAPAN-A2 were launched successfully by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

ASTROSAT is an X-ray Astronomy Satellite, which is India's first dedicated astronomy mission, for studying distant celestial objects, operating in a 650 km near-equatorial orbit around the Earth. LAPAN-A2 carries digital cameras, an Automatic Identification System, and amateur radio communication equipment.

References:
- ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.gov.in/update/28-sep-2015/pslv-successfully-launches-india%E2%80%99s-multi-wavelength-space-observatory-astrosat

- LAPAN News (in Indonesian)
http://www.lapan.go.id/index.php/subblog/read/2015/1899/Satelit-LAPAN-A2-Berhasil-Diluncurkan

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
* 8. UNESCAP Launches E-learning for Disaster Management
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

On August 28, 2015, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) announced that it had launched an e-learning platform to help disaster management for nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Integrating socio-economic data, satellite images, and other disaster-related data, the Geo-referenced Information Systems for Disaster Risk Management (Geo-DRM) portal enables people in the region to improve their abilities to engage in efficient countermeasures in the event of a disaster using evidence-based decision-making.

References:
- UNESCAP Press Release
http://www.unescap.org/news/escap-launches-new-online-e-learning-platform-help-build-resilience-disasters-asia-pacific
- Geo-DRM E-learning Platform
http://137.189.162.178/

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Copyright 2015 The APRSAF Secretariat

APRSAF News Mails are distributed to update the readers on
recent developments in space-related activities in the
Asia-Pacific region.

------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe/unsubscribe, or update your contact information,
click here: https://www.aprsaf.org/newsmails_newsletters/form/
(or please e-mail: secretariataprsaf.org)
------------------------------------------------------------------

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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++