KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Space Agency has set a target for the national space sector to contribute about 0.3% or RM3.2 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) while creating up to 5,000 jobs within the next 10 years via the National Space Policy (NSP) 2030.
“We are also targeting our space sector to become the top three in research and development in Southeast Asia with 50% self-reliance in space technology by 2030,” the agency’s Director-General Azlikamil Napiah said in a webinar titled “Satellite Communications and the Next Stage of Malaysia’s Digital Transformation” today.
He said the NSP 2030, which was launched in 2019, is now in the process of developing two clusters, namely the user segment, which focuses on systems, demand creation, expertise sharing and open data; and the ground segment, which includes network services and data acquisition programming.
“We have yet to establish the other two clusters in the space exploration programme which are the space segment and continuation of the knowledge segment,” he said.
Azlikamil said to date, the agency has developed close to 40 application systems based on space technology development to provide solutions to problems in various sectors such as disaster management, environmental health, natural resources management, and security and defence.
“It is still not enough for us to provide solutions to many existing problems in multiple sectors. By 2030, we set the target to reach at least 90 application systems that will benefit around 110 agencies and government departments.
“We are also looking into how satellite communication can facilitate the operation of the application system throughout the country, as well as the impact of the application system to users and public at large,” he added. – Bernama, April 21, 2021
