Thailand is calling for the private sector to invest in increasing the number of aerospace engineers, which currently do not meet the country’s demand.
A key focus is represented by the need to increase research funds to students at high school and university levels. In effect, Thai state agencies in charge of the industry’s development do not share information with the public, while their equivalents from the US and Europe, such as NASA and ESA, do.
The Thai government is therefore urging private actors to invest in scholarships and education to bridge the knowledge gap. In addition, Thailand aims at enhancing collaboration with international agencies such as the US Space and Rocket Center and Nasa’s SERVIR.
SERVIR’s Mekong center, run by the United States Agency for International Development and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, uses satellite images and ground measurements to create water resource maps, drought forecasts, and other online data tools that are used by Thai farmers.
The Southeast Asian country has identified international collaboration as a way of launching student projects involving small satellites or CubeSats, as well as larger commercial projects such as low-Earth orbit satellite networks.
(Sources: Bangkok Post; The Nation)
