SGAC Thailand

National Points of Contact
Thailand

Welcome to the national page of SGAC THAILAND. The Space Technology and Application are interesting and very useful in day-life. Thailand is the one of developing country located in South East Asia by the major products export of our country are agriculture products for example rice, fruit, rubber, manioc etc. The space technology information can be helped to disaster prediction, planning and warning for the all of people in our country. Nevertheless a few people in Thailand have knowledge about this technology and lack of development of the existing technology. The most agriculture career people are impecunious man. So we recognize the importance thing of space technology. For the Space history of Thailand start from 1996, alongside with other 11 engineers from Mahanakorn University of Technology Thailand, they attended research and design about the Micro-Satellite System for the remote sensing mission at the Surrey Space Centre (SSC), University of Surrey, UK. The first Thai micro-satellite name is THAIPAT-1 was successfully launched into a sun-synchronous orbit in July, 1997.

Currently the most famous Space agency in Thailand name is Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) located in Bangkok and Chonburi provinces. GISTDA was established on November 3, 2000 as a public organization which assumes all responsibilities and activities for space technology and geo-informatics applications. The THailand Earth Observation Satellite (THEOS). is the first operational earth observation satellite of Thailand. The THEOS program was developed by GISTDA, EADS Astrium, the prime contractor, initiated work on the satellite in 2004. On October 1, 2008, THEOS was successfully launched by Dnepr launcher from Yasny, Russian Federation. Today, GISTDA is developing a worldwide network of distributors to allow the users to use and access to all GISTDA products. Thailand not only foresaw the specific application remote sensing but also for the spatial object analysis that responsibility by the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), Observing Facilities located at Doi Inthanon National Park at 8,415 feet above sea level Doi Inthanon is Thailand’s highest mountain Chiang Mai Province.

The establishment of SGAC is still at the beginning stage, but we are very confident that Thailand can progress brightly into the future!

Young Space Activities Overview in Thailand

Currently, space activities in Thailand are limited mainly to Government Agencies. However, students groups and universities are now emerging in this field. Recently, the “Thailand Near Space Research Group” launched the first high altitude balloon with sensors and tracking devices in order to study the higher atmosphere. The project was self-funded and the students basically used their own funding and capabilities without external help. This shows the interests that Thai youth have on the final frontier – space. GISTDA, the national organization for space activities has also initiated several programs under its aegis to promote space activities with both the academia and the industry. 2013 mark the beginning of a long-term project to bring the Thai industry – already capable at high-tech manufacturing – to venture into space technology manufacturing. Moreover, it is also very feasible that the 1st cubesat project will be initiated with the participation from 6 universities under the APSCO project. The 1st clean room for space technology will also be completed this year at the Space Krenovation Park in Sriracha.

Country-Specific Events in 2014

29 April 2014: NARIT arranged the “Thai National Astronomy Meeting: TNAM 2014” at the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University.
18-19 June 2014: the 10th Asia GIS Conference at Chiang mai, Thailand Organize by Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA).
25 July 2014: Conference: Study in Space Technology & Application Engineering and guidelines for research. At Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Thailand

Government Organization

National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)
Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA)
Space Affairs Bureau Thailand
Chulabhorn Satellite Receiving Station

Space Academic Institutes in Thailand

Learning to be Scientists with Automatic Weather Stations(LESA)
Department of Aerospace Engineering Kasetsart University
Mahanakorn University of Technology (Developed the 1st Micro Satellite named THAI-PAT(TMSAT) of Thailand)
Department of Aerospace Engineering King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok

Documents
Satellite Engineering for Thailand by Sujate Jantarang and S. Purivigraipong
Spacecraft Orbit Determination using the Filtering Estimator by S. Purivigraipong
Statistical Orbit Determination for Low-Earth-Orbit Spacecraft Using Code Information of Global Position System (GPS) Signals by S. Purivigraipong