House pushes low Earth orbit tech

A new study by a House sub-committee on space affairs has pointed to an urgent need for Thailand to begin developing its own non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) technologies including low Earth orbit (LEO) services before it is too late to catch up with new satellite technologies.

"If the country fails to begin now and waits until most businesses around the world have adopted these LEO technologies, Thailand will find it much more difficult to get started and the costs of developing one of these technologies will become far higher," said Col Settapong Malisuwan, a Bhumjaithai Party list MP.

He was speaking in his capacity as a deputy chairman of the House's committee on communications, telecommunications and digital economy and society.

Findings from this study will be next summarised into a report that will be sent to the House of Representatives before the final parliamentary session ends by the end of next month, he said.

In recent years, advances in reusable rocket technologies have helped bring down the costs of developing small-sized satellites, a catalyst for a speedy development of larger NGSO networks, also known as satellite constellations, he said. He urged the National Broadcasting Telecommunications Commission to support this development.