Liftoff Asia Subscribe

Mission control for Asia's space economy

Free. One essay a week. Unsubscribe anytime.

The weekly

Articles

Read the archive →
Issue 21 · 14 Oct 2026 Asia Is Second in Space Deals. Southeast Asia’s Next Step Is Private Capital. Asia did 212 deals in the year to June 2026. Europe did 136. North America still took most of the money — and in Southeast Asia, the cheques are still mostly government. Cap Table 01 · 7 Oct 2026 The Asia cap raise — who got funded, and who wrote the cheque Six rounds closed in two weeks across China, India and Japan, and three of them were never written up in English. A new series putting the actual cheques on the page. Issue 20 · 30 Sept 2026 Singapore built a space agency to cement its maritime hub status and better plan its city Asked in Parliament what its new space agency is actually for, Singapore's answer named two things: urban planning and port operations. What I found was a country buying orbit to run an island. Issue 19 · 23 Sept 2026 Your satellite saw the fire. The radio couldn't carry it to you. Satellite sensors improve about 100x per generation; the radios that send the pictures home improve 3-5x. So satellites photograph more than they can transmit and delete the rest. The fix, and the two things standing in the way. Issue 18 · 16 Sept 2026 Asia's space story usually means China, India, Japan. Kazakhstan owns the launch site the space age started from. Kazakhstan owns the world's largest spaceport and leases most of it to Russia until 2050. Its space regulator now sits inside a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence. And the licensing route for a private space company has been open since 2016 — this month, a small team in Almaty used it. Issue 17 · 8 Sept 2026 China's new Five-Year Plan promotes space to a pillar industry — and backs it with a first-ever law. China's new Five-Year Plan adds space to its list of pillar industries. What that means, how China actually ships these plans, and where Asia shows up. Issue 16 · 2 Sept 2026 Southeast Asia's most powerful satellite is Indonesian — and it's wiring up 30,000 village schools and clinics. Indonesia couldn't lay cable across 17,000 islands, so it launched a 150 Gbps satellite and pointed it at the schools and clinics the internet forgot. The quiet lesson about where space money actually goes. Issue 15 · 25 Aug 2026 A company in Thailand is rewriting Southeast Asia's path to orbit. Southeast Asia builds satellites but has never launched one — they all ride foreign rockets. Equatorial Space, now inside Thailand's FastPass program, wants to change that with a non-explosive fuel made in Singapore. An exclusive look at founder Simon Gwozdz's company, and why a government, an investor, and a customer should all care.

On the record

Who talks to Liftoff Asia

Founders, investors and operators across the region, in their own words. Every name below sat down for a published interview.

See the conversations →
Cedric Ng Global Business Development · Space Faculty The Malaysia–Singapore space corridor is real on paper. The commercial layer is not built yet. Issue 3 Episode 03
Alexandra Vidyuk Founder · Beyond Earth Ventures The seven parts a country needs to turn university research into companies. Issue 14 Episode 05
Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya Founder · 20 years at NASA JPL · AstroHub Why space needs marketers and dealmakers as badly as it needs engineers. Issue 6 Episode 04
Nicholas Barnett Co-founder · Interstellar Mapping Making the fake Moon dirt every lunar mission has to test on before launch. Issue 5 Episode 01
Lisa Kuo Global Business Developer · Rocket Lab Where Asia-Pacific actually fits in the global launch market. Episode 02

Interactive

Orbit

Every satellite worth knowing about, on a globe you can turn.

liftoffasia.com/orbit Open full screen ↗

Interactive

Rockets

What the parts of a rocket actually do, without the jargon.

liftoffasia.com/rockets Open full screen ↗

The podcast

In conversation

Long conversations with the people building Asian space. Every episode on YouTube.

All episodes →
SS

Who's writing

Shirley Saw

Writer based in Malaysia. I cover the Asian commercial space industry the same way I'd want it covered if I were trying to build inside it — clearly, sceptically, and with the regional context that gets lost when the story is told from outside.

Read the thesis →

Partner with Liftoff Asia

Put your brand in front of Asia's space audience

Sponsorships, brand partnerships and media coverage for companies building, funding or covering space in Asia.

100K Monthly reach across Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube

Advertising

You buy the slot. I write the issue.

01

Newsletter sponsorship

A clearly-marked sponsor slot in the weekly issue. Your copy, not mine.

02

Podcast ad slots

Pre-roll or mid-roll on the conversation series.

03

Ad slots on video

A host-read spot inside an episode, marked as sponsored.

Branded content & appearances

I make something about you, and it says so.

04

YouTube coverage

A dedicated video on your mission, product or round.

05

Custom explainers

A film that makes your technology legible to non-engineers.

06

Media partner

Official coverage partner for your event or programme.

07

Event moderation

Panels and fireside chats, hosted and prepped properly.

Sponsored placements are always labelled. Editorial coverage isn't for sale.

or email hello@liftoffasia.com directly