1. News on APRSAF Activities

1) Interviews are now posted on the APRSAF website
Interviews were held during APRSAF-25 with three following interviewees:
H.E. Mr. Marat Nurguzhin, Vice Minister, Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry, Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Anthony Murfett, Deputy Head, Australian Space Agency and Mr. Jigme Thinlye Namgyal, Director General, Department of IT and Telecom, Ministry of Information and Communications, The Kingdom of Bhutan.
H.E. Mr. Marat Nurguzhin informed us of the current situation of space activities in Kazakhstan. Mr. Anthony Murfett shared his view regarding differences before and after the establishment of the space agency. Mr. Jigme Thinlye Namgyal explained the role of his department in Bhutan.
Please refer to the APRSAF website for more details:
http://www.aprsaf.org/interviews/

2)Questionnaire on future APRSAF annual meetings
We would like to hear your comments and frank opinions regarding future APRSAF annual meetings.
Any comments would be appreciated on the following form:
https://goo.gl/forms/H3RpMhxcQFNlTTDj2

2. News from APRSAF Community

1) MicroDragon successfully launched aboard Epsilon-4
MicroDragon, a microsatellite developed by the Vietnam National Satellite Center (VNSC), was successfully launched aboard the fourth Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-4) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Uchinoura Space Center. This project was a part of The Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. The launch proceeded on time at 9:50:20 am (Japan Standard Time, JST) January 18, 2019.

Reference:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20190118/vietnammade-oceanmonitoring-satellite-launched-from-japan/48595.html
http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2019/01/20190118_epsilon4.html

2) China's Moon Landing: Lunar Rover Begins Its Exploration
BEIJING - Hours after a space probe from China made humanity's first landing on the far side of the moon, sending images of its surroundings back to Earth, the spacecraft deployed a rover on Thursday to take still more photographs and scan the surface of terrain never before traversed.

Reference:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/world/asia/china-change-4-moon.html

3) Kyutech now seeking participants for BIRDS-5
The Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in southern Japan is now seeking participants for its BIRDS Project. By participating, your country has an opportunity to launch its first satellite into space. But more importantly, through this two-year project, Kyutech will train 2 or 3 engineers so that they will be able to go back to your country and build more satellites. By building the first satellite at Kyutech, they will acquire all the skills needed to build more on home turf. It will be an invaluable asset to make your space program long term and sustainable.

The results of BIRDS-1 through BIRDS-4 can be viewed here:
http://birds1.birds-project.com/newsletter.html
[the BIRDS Project Newsletter]

If you are interested to learn more, please contact George Maeda at:
maeda@ise.kyutech.ac.jp

4) Scholarships for Water Engineering and Management (WEM) in Asian Institute of Technology are available by 31 March 2019
Water Engineering and Management (WEM) program of Asian Institute of Technology provides education and conducts research covering five focal areas: Agricultural Water, Coastal Water, Urban Water, Water Resources, and Extreme Events & Risk Management. The curriculum of WEM is designed in a way that students can specialize according to their interests. Courses such as Watershed Hydrology, Hydrodynamics, Water Resources Systems, and Concepts in Water Modeling provide the solid foundation to the advanced courses. The curriculum emphasizes tools and techniques in water resources planning and management.
In addition to the academic programs, WEM conducts several research projects, training and outreach activities on climate change impact and adaptation assessment on hydrology and water resources, irrigation management, flood risk assessment and management, groundwater development and management etc. For more details:
http://wem.ait.ac.th/

Several scholarships are available on a competitive basis:
https://www.ait.ac.th/admissions/scholarships/

The deadline of applications to be considered for the scholarship for August 2019 intake is: 31 March 2019.

Please write to wemaitait.asia if you have any queries regarding the admissions, scholarships, and fellowships.

3. Event Calendar

- Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (COPUOS STSC)
(11-22 February 2019, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria)
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/events/data/2019/56th_session_of_the_scientific_and_technical_subcommittee.html

-Global Space Congress (GSC) 2019
(19-21 March 2019, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
https://www.globalspacecongress.com/events/global-space-congress-2019/event-summary-ae6d3a25a75a4cb88ea19b02560959fa.aspx

Copyright 2020 The APRSAF Secretariat

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