ILOA SEA Partnership ConsiderationsA personal perspective

Dave Lommen ILOA SEA Advisory Committee/Hwa Chong Institution/Astronomy.SG

27 February 2016

Outline

• Who am I?• The NYP-NUS Astronomy Retreats• The Galaxy Forums in South-East Asia• The South-East Asian Astronomy Network• ASEAN COST• APRSAF & SEASA• ILOA SEA Partnership Considerations• Summary: Astronomy and Space in SEA

Who am I?• B.Sc. Physics University

of Amsterdam• M.Sc. Astronomy and

Astrophysics University of Amsterdam– X-ray binaries

• Ph.D. Astronomy Leiden University– Young Stellar Objects

• M.Sc. Teaching Physics Leiden University

The IPS Astronomy Retreats• Annual event for friends of astronomy• Supported by the Institute of Physics Singapore (IPS)• 4D3N retreat to Malaysia or Indonesia• Presentations and all-night star-gazing sessions• 23rd installment in 2016

The move to Singapore• Raffles Institution

– Expand Astronomy Club– Helped win the Singapore

Space Challenge– Invited to Galaxy Forum

• Hwa Chong Institution– Train students for SAO– National Team Leader to

the IOAA in Indonesia in 2015

– Invited to speak at Galaxy Forum

GALAXY FORUM21st Century Education in Every Class

• Galaxy Forums are free public events • Specifically geared towards high school teachers, educators,

astronomers of all kinds, students and the general public• N-America, S-America, China, India, Japan, Europe, Africa…

Galaxy Forum Southeast Asia 2016SkyWorld Building – Jakarta – Indonesia

Galaxy Forum Southeast Asia 2016UKM – Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

The Southeast-AsianAstronomy Network

• Initiated in 2007 by the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)

• Aims to strengthen the research work and education• Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,

Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

SEAAN Meeting 2015

• Science meeting– Contributions from SEA +

Hong Kong, Taiwan…• Business meeting

– National Representatives– 6 Working Groups– 2 Program Groups– Total Solar Eclipse 2016– SEAAN and ASEAN COST– SEAAN Charter– SEAAN activities 2017

ASEAN COST

• The latest update on ASEAN COST:• SEAAN will have the first meeting with the

chair of SCOSA (Sub Committee on space technology and applications) and its members by this coming May

• Discussed will be: partnership of SEAAN and SCOSA and future collaborations

ASEAN COST

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established by the ASEAN Declaration of 8 August 1967

• An ASEAN Permanent Committee on Science and Technology (S&T) was established in 1971

• Following the rationalization of the ASEAN operations in 1978, the Permanent Committee on Science and Technology was designated the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST)

SCOSA• ASEAN-COST at its 37th Meeting agreed in principle for the

ASEAN Experts Group on Remote Sensing to be elevated to an ASEAN Sub-Committee. ASEAN-COST at its 38th Meeting formally endorsed the elevation of AEGRS to ASEAN Sub-Committee on Space Technology and Applications (SCOSA).

• All ASEAN member countries are represented in SCOSA. Established Working Groups and/or Project Management Committees (PMCs) to carry out specific activities or projects. 

• The main objective of SCOSA is to formulate the framework for enhancing collaboration in space technology and its applications and to implement programmes and projects towards operationalisations of these technologies for sustainable development in the ASEAN region. 

• Global Space & Technology Convention (GSTC)– 10th instalment in 2017!

• Space Academy Singapore (SAS)– Now also in Indonesia!

• Singapore Space Challenge (SSC)• Memoranda of Understanding with

– LAPAN (Indonesia)– GNSS & LBS Association of China (GLAC)

GSTC

• Platform for technology in space engineering and design

• Neutral forum for business-to-business networking and interaction

• Bridging the gap between East and West• Key Members of Space Agencies• Government Bodies• International Organizations / Companies• Universities and Research Institutes from Singapore and

around the World

Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum• Established in 1993 to enhance space activities in

the Asia-Pacific region• Attended by space agencies, governmental bodies,

international organizations, private companies, universities, and research institutes from over 40 countries and regions

• Space Applications• Space Technology• Space Environment Utilization• Space Education

Regional space agencies and government frameworks

• Singapore: Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP)

• Thailand: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA)

• Malaysia: Malaysian National Space Agency (ANGKASA)

• Indonesia: National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN)

• Vietnam: Space Technology Institute Vietnam (VAST-STI)

• SCOSA!

SEASA• What a difference an A makes…

– National Aeronautics and Space Administration– European Space Agency– Singapore Space and Technology Association

• Benefits of a SEASA– Close-knit group of countries– Advancement of satellite missions– Boost for R&D– Education and jobs in STEM

• Challenge– May need a host country to pick up and move– Move through SCOSA?

• SSTA example for regional association?– 10th anniversary of GSTC in 2017

ILOA Partnership Considerations

Core hydrogen burning• ILO-1 POP, to move

forward ILO-1, ILOA’s flagship mission

• POP SEA AC: members from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Hawaii

• Collaborations in SEA

• Singapore: home to ~140 International Non-Profit Organisations (INPOs)

• Good ground for SEA POP• Subsidiary Company?• Branch Office?• Representative Office?• Company Limited by

Guarantee (CLG)?

SummaryAstronomy and Space in SEA

• Astronomy is moving forward at a very fast pace– Lots of research in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia…– SEAAN, spearheaded by NARIT, moving up status…– Lots of movement in outreach and all levels of education

• South-East Asia seems like a base for space advance– Global Space & Technology Conventions in Singapore– Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forums in Philippines,

Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore…

• The time is right – let’s fly to the moon!