A slew of partnerships was unveiled at the opening of Space Summit 2026 in Singapore as the city-state announced plans to launch its national space agency on April 1. The initiatives span satellite-based climate monitoring, secure communications, next-generation connectivity and workforce development
Among the agreements, Singapore start-up Arkadiah Technology and Golden Agri-Resources are signing a contract to use satellite remote-sensing data to develop digital measurement, reporting and verification tools for carbon quantification. The project is aimed at improving the monitoring and protection of tropical forests using multi-modal satellite data.
Related work in environmental monitoring was also highlighted through a collaboration involving NUS-CRISP and Singapore-based Kumi Analytics. The partnership will focus on linking satellite imagery with ground data to support carbon baselining and reporting for blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass.
Besides that, secure satellite communications featured in several announcements. SGX-listed Addvalue Technologies and SpeQtral are planning to sign a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration on an integrated quantum key distribution (QKD) satellite solution. SpeQtral is a Singapore-based quantum communications company spun out of the Centre for Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly assess satellite constellation design and concepts of operations, including approaches to enable service-oriented satellite-based QKD to support real-time tasking and key establishment.
Separately, SpeQtral is entering a strategic capital and business partnership with Japan's SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. Both companies plan to jointly accelerate the early commercial deployment of satellite-based quantum cryptography services in the 2030s.
See also: Singapore’s space push faces cyber risks from legacy satellite systems
In the area of next-generation connectivity, a consortium comprising Airbus, ST Engineering iDirect, Keysight Technologies and MediaTek is signing a memorandum of understanding to study, analyse, validate and demonstrate a 5G and 6G non-terrestrial network solution in Singapore.
On the security front, space situational awareness company Digantara will sign a memorandum with Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) to collaborate on the development, testing and evaluation of software applications that use space-based and ground-based data to track Singapore's satellites more accurately. The project is intended to support national efforts in space under Singapore’s new national space agency.
Meanwhile, Aetosky will establish its global headquarters in Singapore to build and support sovereign, multi-domain situational awareness, digital twin and decision-support systems globally. From Singapore, Aetosky will work with national agencies to help them develop, own and operate these systems in support of national security, maritime safety, disaster resilience and other critical national applications.
See also: ST Engineering pushes further into orbit with new satellites and geospatial analytics
Talent development was also highlighted, with Ngee Ann Polytechnic launching Singapore's first Space Technology Specialisation at the polytechnic diploma level.
The cross-disciplinary programme is designed for engineering students and will focus on systems design, integration and innovation projects inspired by real-world space applications. The first intake will begin this April.
In a separate education-related announcement, the School of Science and Technology and Singapore and Thailand’s National Astronomy Research Institute plan to expand collaboration to nurture space and science talent, including teacher and student training programmes in astronomy, access to robotic telescopes for student research, and community-driven exchanges.
