The cabinet on Tuesday approved in principle the draft Space Affairs Bill proposed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, government deputy spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said.
In proposing the bill, the ministry said the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) reported that Thailand had over 35,600 businesses linked to space and related industries. These businesses generated about 56,122 million baht anually in revenue.
However, there were still legal restrictions in Thailand's policy on space affairs administration. The country needed an agency to oversee the space operations and obligations to international space agencies of which Thailand is a member.
Ms Rachada said the cabinet approved the Space Affairs Bill in principle, beieving that space affairs were vital to the country's economic development in line with technological advancement.
The gist of the bill:
- There will be a policy and planning for the promotion and support for both state and public sector participation in space development, to create a "new space economy".
- There will be a national space policy committee, chaired by the prime minister, to draw up space policy.
- There will be a national space administration agency to perform secretarial tasks for the national space policy committtee.
- The director of the national space administration agency will be empowered to appoint officials to supervise and promote space affairs.
Ms Rachada said the "new space economy" concerns use of innovation and knowledge from the development of space technologies for businesses such as satellite launch services, satellite internet services, space exploration, space research and experimentation, design of rockets or spacecraft, and space tourism.