With more satellites being launched and costs falling, reaching orbit is no longer the main challenge. The real test is turning satellite data into reliable, scalable products that businesses want to buy.
The city-state is positioning itself to capture that demand. It launched the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) on April 1 under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, with about 30 staff moving over from the Office for Space Technology and Industry (OSTIn), which currently sits under the Economic Development Board.
According to OSTIn, the agency is expected to double in size over the next three years. Its funding comes from a $210 million space technology programme started in 2022, with an additional $60 million added this year. Singapore is home to about 70 space companies employing around 2,000 professionals across the value chain, from designing and manufacturing space components to providing satellite-based services.
NSAS’s mandate includes setting up a multi-agency operations centre to support government agencies with satellite tasking and geospatial data analytics, and developing space situational awareness capabilities to ensure the safety of the Republic’s assets in an increasingly congested space environment.
Those capabilities are intended to support a broader set of commercial applications. “Space-based Earth observation enables a wide range of commercial applications, including in industries such as maritime, sustainability and finance,” says OSTIn’s spokesperson.
For maritime, satellite-based services can improve route optimisation, efficiency and safety. In sustainability, the data is used to track and measure carbon emissions. In finance, it supports products such as parametric insurance, where measurable events trigger payouts. Satellite data can also provide economic intelligence by monitoring industrial and commercial activity.
See also: Global Invacom signs MOU to produce next-gen multi-orbit flat panel antenna
NSAS also wants to go beyond using data from other countries’ satellites. “We intend to explore further developing our constellation of satellites to meet national needs as well as use cases across the equatorial belt, as our geographical location positions us to do more in this region,” says OSTIn’s spokesperson.
Singapore is about one degree north of the equator, which allows its satellites to provide frequent coverage of some of Southeast Asia’s busiest markets. “Our position as a trusted and connected hub, with a strong finance and logistics sector, also makes us the ideal home for companies offering space services across the Asia Pacific,” adds the spokesperson.
Michelle Khoo, Center Leader at Deloitte’s Center for the Edge Southeast Asia, agrees, but with a sharper edge. “What matters most is not where the satellite flies, but where contracts are written, data products are packaged, and intellectual property is owned,” she tells DigitalEdge.
See also: US labour board gives up oversight of SpaceX in victory for Musk
Singapore, in this view, isn’t competing with Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines for Earth observation revenue from agriculture, forestry, and disaster management. Instead, it’s competing to own the layer through which that revenue is organised and distributed.
Deloitte estimates that Earth observation data alone will add three times more value to Southeast Asia’s economy by 2030, growing from US$15 billion ($19 billion) today to US$45 billion a year, with a cumulative addition of US$100 billion to the region’s GDP over the period.
Most of this growth will benefit countries with large primary industries. Khoo says Singapore can benefit by acting as a regional enabler, offering capital, analytics, licensing, and professional services to help neighbouring markets use this data.
From pilots to contracts
Whether this projected growth translates into sustained commercial demand is uncertain. Khoo draws a clear distinction between genuine business demand and projects being tested with public funding.
“The clearest indicators of genuine commercial traction are multi-year renewals of initial pilots, expansion of usage within client organisations, explicit service-level agreements, and evidence that these services are funded from operating budgets rather than innovation pools,” she says.
A clear example of this shift is a deal between a local start-up, Arkadiah Technology, and the global agribusiness Golden Agri-Resources. Arkadiah has signed a contract to use satellite remote sensing to measure and verify carbon in tropical forests.
To stay ahead of the latest tech trends, click here for DigitalEdge Section
Progress is further ahead in the maritime sector. “Recurring private sector revenue is already emerging where Earth observation data is tightly linked to operational risk reduction, such as safety, compliance, delay avoidance, or fuel efficiency, because buyers can clearly quantify the downside risks they are mitigating,” says Khoo. For instance, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority uses satellite imagery, geospatial analytics, and artificial intelligence to manage ship traffic at its port.
Finance and insurance are the next sectors expected to adopt satellite data. Satellite imagery can help insurers verify if a field was flooded before a claim is made, or allow banks to assess environmental risks to assets backing loans before they appear in financial reports. The key question is whether these applications have moved from promising to generating actual revenue.
Space data economy
A strong signal that institutional investors are taking Singapore’s space ambitions seriously came in February, when Macquarie Equity Research released an analysis of the emerging orbital data centre market. This concept involves placing computing infrastructure in low Earth orbit to avoid the power and land constraints facing data centres on the ground.
Macquarie’s list of Asian companies linked to this theme includes two locally listed firms: ST Engineering and Addvalue Technologies. The latter’s inter-satellite data relay system is already installed in more than 30 satellites in orbit. Macquarie describes both as sovereign supply-chain plays, positioned for a market it expects to develop in the mid-2030s.
ST Engineering’s programme shows how that positioning is translating into real projects. Its NeuSAR-2 constellation (comprising four radar satellites) is set to launch from 2027 through 2030. The system will image the near-equatorial region up to 16 times a day at a resolution of 0.6 metres per pixel.
The company has also secured an export contract to design and deliver an Earth observation satellite and mission control system for a client in the UAE.
Additionally, its NEBULA satellite (due in the second half of 2026) will test gigabit-per-second laser communications between satellites in orbit. Macquarie identifies this as a key technical hurdle for scaling the next generation of space-based data services.
Macquarie’s analysis is already reflected in new business partnerships. Transcelestial, a local start-up featured in the bank’s satcom supply-chain analysis, has teamed up with Australia’s Gilmour Space for an in-orbit demonstration of wireless laser communications.
Meanwhile, Digantara, an Indian space situational awareness company, has partnered with Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency to develop satellite tracking software in support of NSAS, ahead of the agency’s formal launch.
In the cybersecurity segment, local start-up SpeQtral is developing satellite-based encryption and has secured strategic capital and a business partnership with Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT. The collaboration is aimed at quantum cryptography satellite services in the 2030s.
OSTIn’s spokesperson says NSAS will support local companies to capture opportunities in advanced Earth observation and communications satellite technologies, geospatial applications, and emerging areas such as sustainability-related technologies. “The growth of our local space sector will be reflected in the strength and vibrancy of our local ecosystem, including the emergence of promising start-ups in priority areas and the participation of local companies in the global space value chain.”
Holding its regional hub position
Singapore’s role as a regional hub for space services is shaped in part by geopolitics.
Macquarie’s analysis of where US technology investment is likely to flow, as domestic power constraints tighten, places the city-state alongside Switzerland as a neutral and stable jurisdiction, distinct from markets restricted on security grounds.
As the space sector becomes more divided along US-China lines, companies operating across both systems need a base that is trusted by each side.
Singapore’s participation in the Artemis Accords aligns it with US space governance standards, while its broader foreign policy allows it to remain accessible to a wider range of commercial partners.
However, reputation alone won’t be enough to maintain that position. Malaysia is developing its own space analytics, while Indonesia and Vietnam are investing in satellite infrastructure. As these markets grow, Singapore will need to actively sustain its advantages, rather than relying on past momentum.
“To remain central to the Asean ecosystem, Singapore must continue to offer what is hardest to replicate quickly: fast and predictable contracting, regulatory clarity, trusted data governance, and the ability to distribute solutions seamlessly across borders. These are the attributes that determine whether regional activity continues to flow through Singapore rather than around it,” says Khoo.
Whether regional activity continues to flow through the city-state or finds a shorter route to its end markets will depend on how well that offer holds up.
