The exploration and utilization of space has become more than just a frontier for scientific discovery, rather an opportunity to address some of the most incumbent challenges we are facing. From supporting, and extending coverage for communications, also where ground infrastructure is not available or not sufficient, to enhancing disaster response capabilities, supporting national security, agriculture, and environmental monitoring, space applications are increasingly becoming indispensable tools to support the race toward sustainable development.
In the past, the concept of space power was associated with the capacity of a country to use space to support its military capacity on land, sea, and air, aiming to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Later, this concept was expanded to the capacity to enlarge the action of a country’s military power everywhere in the world, also as a form of deterrence. This view of space and space power has been with time re-shaped into a more heterogenous version. In an article from the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, it was highlighted that globalization has contributed to the decline of the concept of space power as seen before, toward a general awareness that space is an autonomous and heterogeneous dimension with a strategic value, as it can have a transversal impact on the vital sectors of a country. Thus, the concept of space power has shifted toward a manifestation of the ability to utilize the outer space environment to generate wealth, generating thus, what is known as the Space Economy.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has defined Space Economy as the full range of activities and the use of resources that create value and benefits for human beings in the course of exploring, researching, understanding, managing, and utilizing space. Today, the space economy is a topic that is considered a priority by numerous governments and is mostly an opportunity to not lose. To give some ideas, the Space Economy is set to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023 and averaging a growth rate of 9% per annum. Big numbers attract always attention. As written in an article of the World Economic Forum, it is not just about space, but rather about all the applications dependant on space technologies, like digital communications, ride-hailing apps, but also finance, as written in a past article on the Khmer Times. And the return on investment is not just financial, but in terms of widespread prosperity, disaster management, security, and better decision-making.
Currently, Cambodia has little experience with space and its technology, but examples are not absent. Some interest has been seen in the recent past, and some researchers have been active in trying to promote and understand the direction to take for a developing country like Cambodia. In 2021 a researcher from the University of Tokyo, Dr. Maximilien Berthet, specifically wrote an academic article, together with colleague co-researchers from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), including Cambodian engineer Morokot Sakal who now is pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Engineering in Florida, describing the lesson learned from the First Small Satellite Education Program in Cambodia, which embodied a new paradigm, demonstrating that the wide accessibility of space-related knowledge, together with remote collaboration and numerous available online tools, empower students, also those with a limited budget, to achieve what was previously limited to institutional leaders with institutional budgets.
Other collaborations with researchers in Cambodia have led to a series of collaborative research works involving CamEd Business School, the University of Tokyo, and the Satellite Department
in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) toward understanding the direction that the country should take in terms of space, with a clear understanding that several challenges lie ahead, with maybe the priority one, the current lack of regulatory body on satellite usage, and satellite-related investments. In an article published on APOSA in July 2024, a Cambodian researcher, Bormy Chanthong, Senior GIS Specialist, Urbanetic Pte Ltd, Singapore, wrote how space technology in the Kingdom is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to impact the country’s development. Some ministries, aside from the MPTC have already some projects that use satellite data, like the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, and the Ministry of Environment. As highlighted by Chanthong, and also by the same Dr. Berthet in other articles, the past of Cambodia related to space is not a blank sheet, but we could argue, that it is still a paper that needs to be written, with early movers like the Royal Group who has already looked to projects mainly related to the telecommunications sector, or Aruna Technology Ltd, a Cambodian company focused on remote sensing. And speaking of remote sensing, Earth Observation was specifically mentioned by Chanthong as having played already an important role in paving the way for the country to achieve the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
One thing is clear: a space economy can not grow by miracle, but should be fostered. As mentioned by the World Economic Forum, in an interview with Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space, “the key enabler for the advancement of civilization is synergy between a supportive space policy framework, pioneering business models, and the development of a vibrant space economy”. “The future of space is not just about the destinations we build but about the economic ecosystems we create along the way”. Thus, the development of a space economy in a nation can not happen just as an accident, but rather as a well-thought-out combination of policy, business models, and collaboration. Cambodia faces the same challenges that other developing countries have.
SpaceEconomy360 listed specifically 7 main challenges that are common to developing countries, Cambodia included: Limited Financial Resources, Technological Gaps, Lack of Qualified Workforce, Regulatory and Political Frameworks, Geopolitical Considerations, Infrastructure Limitations, and Public Awareness and Support. However, as pointed out in the article, these developing countries are working to overcome these obstacles mainly by promoting international collaborations, investing in education and training, and highlighting the benefits of space technology among the public.
Maybe the time to seriously think about developing a space economy based on those applications that could benefit the Kingdom, in alignment with its priorities, as dictated in the several roadmaps and frameworks, has come. Maybe, the time is mature enough to prioritize those space applications “down to earth” that can represent a great opportunity for fostering economic growth and indigenous technological know-how. In the end, we don’t need to go to the Moon, we just need to understand that some space applications are already in alignment with Cambodian’s priorities.
Riccardo Corrado, PhD, is an associate professor at CamEd Business School, a consultant for the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), and for the League of International Relations Affairs (LIRA), a BoD member of the Italian Cambodian Business Association (ICBA), and a Senior Research Fellow at CIDE, Asian Vision Institute (AVI).
Source: Khmer Times