As the West explores new frontiers, South-east Asia is looking back down at Earth from space

[SINGAPORE] While space exploration, lunar missions, rocket launches and the largest initial public offering in history have dominated headlines in the West’s space race, South-east Asia is finding value in space – much closer to Earth.

As Elon Musk’s SpaceX prepares to go public in a record US$75 billion offering, South-east Asia’s private sector involvement in the space race has become increasingly tied to Earth observation (EO) data from which organisations can make decisions, experts told The Business Times.

Increasing adoption of such data from the public and private sector is expected to offer the regional economy a significant boost – Deloitte estimates that the EO industry could contribute an additional US$100 billion to the region’s gross domestic product by 2030.

“In the last few years, we’ve seen many new satellites launched. Now, over our heads, a lot of pictures are being taken,” said Richard Pang, senior vice-president of space projects at Marsh. “There are millions of images that have been collected.”

Government-led momentum has picked up across the region, with 2026 shaping up to be a significant year for South-east Asia’s space sector.

Singapore established the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) on Apr 1 with the mandate to build a domestic space ecosystem and coordinate relevant government operations and legislation.

Indonesia’s Nusantara Earth Observation-1 (NEO-1) satellite, the country’s most advanced Earth monitoring satellite to date, is targeting a launch by the end of 2026. Equipped with multispectral and high-resolution cameras, the satellite will support applications ranging from forest-fire detection and volcanic monitoring to environmental management.

The Philippines is preparing to launch its Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) satellite in the fourth quarter of 2026. The satellite will be capable of imaging the country’s entire territory in a single daily pass.

Vietnam’s National Space Centre, meanwhile, is targeting a 2027 launch for its first radar-based Earth observation satellite.

The surge of activity reflects a broader resurgence in the space industry.

“In the past, satellites were considered dinosaurs, these old things, by some people,” said Pang. “You’ve seen them since the space race in the 1950s and 1960s. SpaceX injected new momentum and made satellites exciting again.”

Pang believes the most important trend is not necessarily the satellites themselves.

Unlike headline-grabbing constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink or China’s Spacesail, which are largely used for telecommunications and Internet connectivity, South-east Asia’s involvement in the space race is increasingly revolving around the use of low-Earth orbit satellites for EO data.

Eyes in the sky

Through a combination of government and commercially owned satellites, businesses now have access to a large variety of EO data created at various resolutions and spectral bands.

These are largely collected by low-Earth orbit satellites that circle the Earth at altitudes of between 450 and 1,000 km, allowing these satellites to capture detailed images and transmit information to Earth at high speeds.

Experts told BT that these satellites are generating a growing stream of data that can be used across industries ranging from agriculture and logistics to climate monitoring and maritime security.

“Human beings have finite time and effort to look at all those pages of satellite images,” explained Pang. “Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help analyse all the data and provide more actionable insights.”

He added: “In addition to the upstream, which is launching satellites to take pictures, the downstream, which is analysing the data, will continue to be a thriving area of activity in the next few years.”

Experts are backing these insights to become increasingly more valuable to businesses in coming years, particularly for monitoring large areas in archipelagic nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines, or tracking vessels in trade-heavy corridors such as the Straits of Malacca.

“The value is no longer just in the image itself,” said Chan Chong Yang, managing director of Singapore and Greater China at data integration platform Qlik. “It is in turning those signals into trusted, usable operational intelligence.”

The implications extend well beyond traditional aerospace companies. “Engineering, electronics manufacturing, industrial operations, insurance and regional supply chains can all benefit,” he said.

Chan noted that a growing number of private companies are now actively making use of EO data in their business processes, rather than viewing such data as a novelty.

“Businesses are increasingly pragmatic about it,” he added.

Chan told BT that agriculture in South-east Asia is one of the clearest examples, where farm operators can use satellite data to track crop health, monitor weather conditions and optimise production across large areas.

In countries such as the Philippines, government-led initiatives are being piloted for commercial use, such as DigitalAgri – a project launched in 2024 aimed at using commercial satellite images for crop monitoring and optimising delivery of goods to market.

But increasingly, businesses across all parts of the supply chain stand to benefit from integrated data, as logistics and trade operators increasingly rely on satellite imaging for decision-making.

He explained that South-east Asian businesses often face obstacles within supply chain and infrastructure networks – through congested roads or shipping lanes, poor weather conditions, lack of energy reliability or upstream supplier disruptions.

In manufacturing, for instance, satellite-derived information can improve visibility into shipping routes and supply chain networks.

“Even a few hours’ difference can translate into significant financial impact,” said Chan. “The real shift lies in shortening the time between signal and decision.”

Even industries not directly involved in these supply chains can stand to benefit, he said. Insurers, for example, are beginning to use satellite images to better price risks, by tracking behaviour such as the likelihood of a vessel deviating from a given route.

Regional cooperation

As South-east Asia’s governments look to accelerate development of domestic space ecosystems, Pang believes that regional cooperation can play a crucial role, with each country offering different strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, the archipelagic Indonesia provides an ideal market for many space-related projects to unlock economic value, he said.

Countries such as Vietnam are also actively expanding their Earth observation capabilities, said Chan.

The country launched a US$266 million National Space Centre facility to develop satellite data infrastructure and technology in March.

Meanwhile, Pang pointed out that innovation hubs like Singapore are equipped with strong access to capital and talent crucial to building a strong regional space ecosystem within both the EO and telecommunications subsectors.

Sergei Alekseev, a founder of Singapore-based satellite communications technology startup Voxtellar, told BT that he chose to start his company in Singapore because of its business openness and English-speaking population at the heart of South-east Asia.

Having clear indication of regulatory openness from government agencies such as the NSAS is crucial for startup success, he noted. “It is also a green light for venture capitalists or customers such as telcos.”

For South-east Asia, space has become a pragmatic reality for governments and businesses, beyond just an uncharted frontier for exploration.

“Regional cooperation and partnership would be important to bring the sector forward, and Singapore can take the lead in fostering these partnerships,” said Pang.