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Singapore hosts Space Summit 2026.
SINGAPORE—Singapore has announced it will establish a national space agency to help underpin its ambitions in the space economy.
The agency is due to be formally established April 1, said Tan See Leng, the city-state’s minister for science and technology at the Space Summit 2026 on Feb. 2.
The agency “will provide decisive leadership for Singapore to seize opportunities in the expanding space economy and the new possibilities posed by democratized access to outer space,” Tan said on the eve of the Singapore Airshow.
Singapore has been in the space business for 55 years, establishing its first ground station in 1971 and deploying the first satellite in 2011. More than 30 Singaporean satellites have been launched in the past two decades. The government has spent S$200 million ($157 million) on space research and development since 2022 and plans more.
“We will further invest strategically in emerging areas, including climate and sustainability technologies, particularly satellite remote sensing for carbon monitoring, space sustainability technologies, including space situational awareness and approaches to debris remediation,” Tan said. The government also is interested in backing microgravity research, particularly in the field of health sciences, he said.
Singapore, not unlike other countries such as the United Arab Emirates, is trying to foster local startups and attract foreign businesses to build up its space industrial capacity. “We will develop a robust ecosystem of component manufacturers and facilities for assembly, integration and testing to accelerate the development of space grid systems by our local players,” Tan said.
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