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Asian nations meeting at the 15th Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum at Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (9-12 December) have agreed to develop a platform for prototype systems for environmental monitoring. The project, called SAFE (Space Application for Environment), is intended to assess the regional impacts of climate change, among other uses.

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The nations agreed that the basic SAFE concept for future prototype activities should involve contributing to the GEOSS program. This is a UN-sponsored agreement under which space agencies co-operate to develop new capabilities in Earth observation.

The conference heard reports on the first SAFE project: a study of water resource management in Vietnam.

Thailand’s national space agency, GISDA, will host the first SAFE meeting in May 2009 in Pattaya.

The conference also agreed on a new program of space co-operation called STAR (Satellite Technology for the Asia Pacific Region).

The program will begin with a microsatellite called microSTAR. Particpants called on regional space agencies in China, India and Japan to provide launch opprtunities for STAR and SAFE projects.

In Japan, JAXA has agreed to host a STAR project team at the JAXA Sagamihara campus, starting in April 2009.

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