Thailand wants to expand its role in space, planning a launch site and efforts to build up a home-grown satellite industry, CNA reports, although experts say drawing investment and creating commercial demand remain significant hurdles. The push is part of a broader drive across Southeast Asia to win a share of the growing global space economy and greater technological independence.
The report highlights an experiment by physicist Nattaporn Chattam and colleagues at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, the first Thai national research payload to reach the International Space Station under an agreement with NASA. The 27kg apparatus, designed to study how liquid crystals behave in microgravity, was accidentally left on the station when it was due to come home, and was only returned to the researchers last month. Nattaporn said the mission showed Thai scientists could compete with anyone.
Source: CNA