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Space: Singapore's new agency signs its first bilateral agreement, with Japan

  • Date: 1 August 2026 

  • Zone: ASEAN-O 

  • Country: Singapore 

  • Name of the sector universe concerned: Aerospace and space industry 

  • Name of the sub-sectors concerned: Space and the satellite industry 

  • Section: Market trends 

  • Theme: International cooperation in Singapore's space sector 

  • Title: Space: Singapore's new agency signs its first bilateral agreement, with Japan 

 

On 6 July 2026, at the SPACETIDE conference in Tokyo, the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Japanese space agency JAXA. The two agencies will examine cooperation opportunities covering technology, science, applications and the development of the space industry, and will work to bring companies from both countries closer together. This is the first bilateral agreement concluded by the NSAS, which was set up three months earlier, on 1 April 2026, under the aegis of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. 

Singapore is focusing its efforts on satellites and associated technologies, and is seeking to draw on the experience of a more mature Japanese ecosystem to build up its own industry. On the same day, the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore) and its Japanese counterpart, the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, undertook to strengthen their ties in aeronautics, drone systems and space in order to accelerate commercial innovation and consolidate. 

These signings are part of Singapore's ambition to carry weight in the space economy. The country is already home to around 70 companies in the sector, accounting for some 2,000 jobs, and more than 30 satellites have been launched from there over two decades; its near-equatorial position is an asset, as most satellites pass over the territory at least once a day. On the Japanese side, the government has designated space a strategic growth sector, with a public-private investment plan of €75bn by 2040. 

Source: "New Singapore space agency seeks to build up the country's space industry, 08/07/2026, SpaceNews" 

URL: https://spacenews.com/new-singapore-space-agency-seeks-to-build-up-the-countrys-space-industry/ 

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