Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Singapore will set up a national agency on April 1 to seize opportunities in the expanding space economy and develop its space capabilities, said Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng.
The National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) will have a multi-agency operations centre that will support government agencies with satellite tasking, or requesting satellite imagery of a specific location, and geospatial data analytics, he said at the opening of the inaugural Space Summit on February 2.
These could be applied to areas such as port operations, urban planning, environmental monitoring and food security, said Dr Tan, who is also Manpower Minister.
The Space Summit on February 2 and 3 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre is being held in conjunction with the Singapore Airshow running from February 3 to 8.
Singapore will also look into further developing its constellation of satellites to meet national needs and specific situations in which they could be used across the equatorial region, Dr Tan said. “Our geographical location positions us to do more in this region.”
At present, the Government co-owns three earth observation satellites with home-grown technology, defence and engineering group ST Engineering.