Vietnam

The twenty-first century is witnessing rapid development in various parts of Southeast Asia. However, few states within the region are also struggling to maintain balance between their social obligations and economic reforms. It is their belief that technology could act as a catalyst for successful implementation of their development strategies. During the last few years, Vietnamese government has invested significant resources in the development of its science and technology base keeping in mind the long-term interests of the state. Space technology is one such area identified by the Vietnamese government.

It would of interest to note that issues of space technology had been making inroads in Vietnam’s strategic thinking since 1980.[155] The beginning was made by the UNDP’s projects to promote utilisation of satellite data for survey purposes

and particularly under the joint Soviet Union-Vietnam space flight cooperation. Interestingly, the first Asian in the space was a Vietnamese cosmonaut Pham Tuan (now retired lieutenant general) who flew in July 1980 under the Soviet Interkosmos space exploration programme. Vietnam, a state marred by war for decades in yesteryears, is fully aware that they are a part of a region which is extremely prone for various natural disasters too. Hence, international cooperation in space science and technology is very important for Vietnam to address the challenges raised by global warming and climate change.22 The state understands that the real challenge for them is to attain a sustainable development while facing various natural and manmade difficulties. This makes them to depend more on technologies to find both short term and long-term solutions.

In 2006, the Vietnamese government announced the ‘Strategy for space tech­nology research and applications until 2020’ that lays down plans to develop communication and Earth observation satellites. In Apr 2008, a 2.6-ton medium­sized satellite Vinasat-1 was put into geostationary orbit using rocket Ariane-5 launcher from French Guiana. It took nearly 13 years for the completion of this project which was approved by the government in 1995 with the focus on providing low-cost communication services. The first satellite has a life span of 15-20 years, and the contractor of the project is the US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

Vietnam also faced difficulties in obtaining the geostationary orbit position because of the concerns of Japan. The Vietnamese satellite is located at longitude 132° east which is also been used by Japan. They had to undergo intense negations since allowing the usage of slot at global level is governed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Vinasat-1 is a commercial communication satellite; however, the capability of this satellite is not been utilised fully due to the lack of clientele. In 2009, only 30% of its capability was used, but slowly the situation is changing. The initial absence of customers could be mainly attributed to the overall economic slowdown of the global market then. From Vietnam’s point of view, the availability of such satellite is a boon because it would have to otherwise spend ‘almost 15 million US dollars annually to rent satellites of foreign countries as Russia, Australia and Thailand’ [5].

Vietnam has formulated a Vietnam Natural resources environment and disaster monitoring small satellite programme (VNREDSat) under which it is planning to launch two micro-satellites in coming few years. Work is in progress to put first satellite in orbit under this plan (overall second satellite for the state). France is expected to provide the technology and official development assistance (ODA) for this project. This small satellite would cater for natural resources development, envi­ronment study and disaster monitoring. This multispectral VNREDSat-1, using the French Myriade bus, is in construction at EADS Astrium, Toulouse, for a planned launch in 2013-2014. This satellite is expected to serve 90% of domestic customers

needs and 10% of the foreign customers needs (Thailand, Laos, Singapore and Indonesia).[156] The second micro-satellite for Earth observations VNREDSat-1B would be send by taking help from Belgium. Spacebel leading a Belgian consortium of industries specialised in space systems (QinetiQ Space, AMOS, CSL) is doing a feasibility study for the final design of the optical payload—for high-resolution and multispectral or hyperspectral images. The contract is expected to be signed in Ho Chi Minh ville by 2012. VNREDSat-1B, planned for launch in 2016, will be combined with VNREDSat-1A, to provide Vietnam with a regular and quick monitoring of the environment in Southeast Asia.[157]

The lack of rocket science base in Vietnam demands that it looks for partners. Japan is emerging as a major partner in the space arena for them. An ‘in principle agreement’ has been reached between the two countries whereby Japan would provide development assistance to launch satellites. Japan has offer 7 billion yen (90.3 million U. S. dollars) to develop and manufacture two Earth observation satellites for monitoring natural disasters. Japan has signed an agreement with Vietnam offering grants of US$1.2 billion of ODA on Nov 2, 2011.[158] This includes promoting policy actions and improving technology to respond to natural disaster and climate change: support programme to respond to climate change; project for disaster and climate change countermeasures using Earth observation satellite. Naturally, the orders for satellite manufacture can be expected to be given to Japanese companies, and Japan is even proposing to launch one satellite. This is one of the biggest ODA plan for Japan and is expected to boost their space industry. The Vietnamese government has assigned the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology to build a national space centre at a cost of about US$600 million with support from Japanese designers and technicians. The centre is expected to be completed by 2018 and will cover an area of 9 ha of Hoa Lac High-tech Park in Hanoi. It will form a hub for research and installation of small satellites to meet demands for weather forecasting, research and disaster management. Once the centre has been built, Vietnam will have the most modern space science facility in Southeast Asia.[159]

Vietnam is the member of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF).[160] It is mainly involved in the SAFE (Space Applications For Environ­ment) programme of this forum which deals with the cooperation and management of environmental issues like use of satellite data and RS and GIS for disaster management. Vietnam’s increasing interests in the satellite field are presently tapped by states like Japan and France. Vietnam’s space development policy clearly suggests that there are opportunities for other actors too.