Mission control for Asia's space economy
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Asia Is Second in Space Deals. Southeast Asia’s Next Step Is Private Capital. 14 Oct 2026
The Asia cap raise — who got funded, and who wrote the cheque 7 Oct 2026 20
Singapore built a space agency to cement its maritime hub status and better plan its city 30 Sept 2026 Podcast conversations
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Alexandra Vidyuk — She spent 18 months reading about nuclear fusion before writing a cheque. 38 min
Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya — Two decades at NASA, then Singapore — why space needs more than engineers. 18 min
Cedric Ng — The bottleneck in Asian space isn't capital or rockets. It's people. 8 min The weekly
Articles
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Interactive
Orbit
Every satellite worth knowing about, on a globe you can turn.
Interactive
Rockets
What the parts of a rocket actually do, without the jargon.
The podcast
In conversation
Long conversations with the people building Asian space. Every episode on YouTube.
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.
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.
Advertising
You buy the slot. I write the issue.
Newsletter sponsorship
A clearly-marked sponsor slot in the weekly issue. Your copy, not mine.
Podcast ad slots
Pre-roll or mid-roll on the conversation series.
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.
YouTube coverage
A dedicated video on your mission, product or round.
Custom explainers
A film that makes your technology legible to non-engineers.
Media partner
Official coverage partner for your event or programme.
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