Asset Finance & Alternatives in APAC & Beyond
Aviation Finance, Alt Asset Finance in APAC & Beyond
Your exclusive gateway to the latest developments across transportation and space, and most importantly, how to finance it all - debt, equity, and defi! We follow and forecast where the money’s at.
Join us as we navigate through the latest roundup to uncover key developments across the region.
**Nothing in this article is intended to be or should be construed as legal or financial advice.**
Summary
Financing & Investments: Fasanara and IFC Launch Lending Strategy for Emerging Market MSMEs; Europe-India Strategic Engagement Post-FTA; IFC Provides US$350 Million to Expand Indonesian Broadband; Gobi Partners Invests in Biotech Firm Cortical Labs; Singapore AI Firm Dyna.Ai Secures Eight-Figure Series A; Kids’ Tech Brand myFirst Raises Over US$8 Million; South Korea and Singapore Agree to Upgrade FTA; and The Invention Lab Leads Seed Investment in AI Startup RIDM.
Environmental Sustainability: Australia and Canada Formalize Clean Energy Partnership; IPSASB Releases First Climate Disclosure Standard for Public Sector; MAS Issues Guidelines on Environmental Risk Management; South Korea Proposes Mandatory ISSB-Aligned Sustainability Reporting; Stanford and Korea University Launch Water Sustainability Index; and Green SM Launches All-Electric Taxi Service in Bali.
Aviation: Passenger Behavior, Not Traffic, Now Drives Airport Retail Performance; Hong Kong International Airport Conducts Annual Crash and Rescue Exercise; Bengaluru and Frankfurt Airports Partner to Boost Cargo Connectivity; Auckland Airport Activates Industrial-Scale Heat Pumps in Terminal; and Queenstown Airport Community Fund Opens 2026 Application Round.
Advanced Air Mobility: EHang to Release Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results; ePlane Company Partners with HENSOLDT for eVTOL Avionics Integration; SkyDrive Completes Public eVTOL Demonstration Flights in Tokyo; Aonic Secures US$10 Million in Series A Funding; and Skyports Deploys Vertiport Automation System for SkyDrive Tokyo Demonstration.
Marine: GMS Calls on EU to Approve Indian Ship Recycling Yards; NYK and JMU Sign Tanker Contract with Real-Sea Performance Guarantee; Consortium Forms to Study Green Hydrogen Production in New Zealand; MISC Exercises Options for Two Additional LNG Carriers; Velesto Workover Secures Shell Contracts for Offshore Sabah; Philippines Launches Fifth Green Energy Auction for Offshore Wind; Bridge Data Centers and Concord New Energy to Develop Barge-Based Hydrogen; and Hanwha Ocean Awarded Contract for Leviathan Field Expansion Modules.
Space: Campaign Urges Australian Government to Partner with ESA for Astronaut Mission; China Designates Aerospace as “Emerging Pillar Industry” and Outlines Lunar Ambitions; ESA and Chinese Academy Both Achieve Gigabit Laser Links to Geostationary Satellites; Space One’s Kairos Rocket Fails for Third Consecutive Time; and Maritime Launch Services and INNOSPACE Sign Letter of Intent for HANBIT Launches from Nova Scotia.
Financing & Investments
Development finance and venture capital are flowing across Asia-Pacific into digital infrastructure, AI computing, and children’s technology, supported by bilateral government agreements unlocking cross-border innovation funding.
Global
Fasanara Capital and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are launching a lending strategy to channel financing to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets, with a focus on women-led businesses. The initiative will support fintech lenders by investing in trade receivables and digital invoices, enabling them to scale lending to address the estimated US$5.7 trillion global financing gap that disproportionately affects women entrepreneurs.
💡The partnership combines Fasanara’s technology-enabled credit capabilities with IFC’s development resources to increase affordable financing flows to MSMEs. The strategy aims to demonstrate private credit as a viable asset class in emerging markets, attract additional investment, and strengthen digital lending ecosystems while supporting job creation.
India-EU
Dezan Shira & Associates notes that since the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement concluded in January, European diplomatic and commercial engagement with India has intensified across multiple sectors. Adani Ports signed a cooperation agreement with Port of Marseille Fos to strengthen maritime connectivity, while Indian and French officials advanced defense cooperation including helicopter assembly and missile production.
💡European policymakers increasingly view India as a strategic partner for supply chain diversification, industrial co-production, and regulatory alignment in digital infrastructure. The convergence of trade frameworks, port connectivity, defense industrial integration, and technology standards indicates structural alignment between India and Europe beyond trade liberalization.
Indonesia
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing a financing package of up to US$350 million to PT Link Net Tbk (Linknet) to support the expansion of high-speed fixed broadband infrastructure across Indonesia. The package includes a US$200 million IFC own-account loan and US$150 million mobilized from the Asian Development Bank, representing IFC’s first investment in the country’s fixed broadband sector.
💡The funding will support network rollout in underserved secondary and tertiary cities and facilitate the transition from older copper-based connections to more energy-efficient fiber networks.
Malaysia
Gobi Partners, through its Malaysia-based Dana Impak Ventures fund, has invested in Cortical Labs, a biotechnology company developing computing systems that combine living human neurons with silicon hardware. The funding round included participation from Horizon Ventures, 3C, and Synchron founder Tom Oxley, supporting Cortical Labs’ expansion into semiconductor engineering and chip design from new operations in Malaysia.
💡Cortical Labs’ CL1 platform enables real-time experiments on laboratory-grown neural networks for applications in drug discovery and as a potential alternative to traditional AI computing. The company’s establishment of manufacturing and engineering operations at SIDEC’s IC Design Park in Puchong is expected to create roles in neuroscience, chip design, and computational biology.
Singapore
Singapore-based artificial intelligence solutions company Dyna.Ai has secured an eight-figure multimillion-dollar Series A funding round. The investment was led by Singaporean venture capital fund Lion X Ventures, with participation from Taiwan-listed technology firm ADATA, a Korean financial institution, and a group of finance industry veterans.
💡The funding will be used to accelerate the deployment of the company’s Agentic AI solutions, which are designed to help enterprises transition artificial intelligence pilots into fully operational systems that deliver measurable business results.
Singapore
Singapore-based kids’ technology brand myFirst has raised over US$8 million in a Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The company will use the funding to deepen its KidsTech ecosystem, which integrates devices, connected services, and a secure social platform designed for children’s first digital experiences across communication, creativity, and self-expression. MyFirst will also expand into North Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Europe through retail and telco partnerships with retailers including Walmart and Best Buy.
💡MyFirst’s ecosystem includes the myFirst Fone watchphone, which enables calling and messaging with GPS safety features, and myFirst Circle, a closed, ad-free social network requiring parental approval for contacts. The platform is designed as an alternative to adult-focused applications, providing age-appropriate technology for children. The company reports its products are used by more than one million families across 60 countries.
Singapore-South Korea
South Korea and Singapore have agreed to begin negotiations to upgrade their bilateral free trade agreement and deepen cooperation in nuclear energy, including small modular reactors. The decision followed summit talks between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marking their second meeting since elevating ties to a strategic partnership. Five memorandums of understanding were signed covering artificial intelligence, small modular reactors, and digital and science and technology cooperation.
💡Lee announced plans to establish a US$300 million global fund in Singapore by 2030 to support joint AI ventures and pledged cross-border joint research starting in 2026.
South Korea-Singapore
South Korea-based venture capital firm The Invention Lab has completed a seed investment in Singaporean AI computing startup RIDM, made jointly with London-based quant investment firm Qube Research & Technologies (QRT). RIDM has developed a computing architecture called DODA (Dynamically Orchestrated Dataflow Architecture) designed to address memory bottlenecks in AI and high-performance computing environments. The technology is based on research conducted at the National University of Singapore and is protected by three international patents.
💡RIDM is conducting a proof of concept in collaboration with QRT, focusing on FPGA development and acceleration utilizing its architecture. The company was founded by engineers from NUS and has secured an exclusive license for a patent held by the university. RIDM plans to pursue strategic collaborations with global companies based on technology verification results.
Environmental Sustainability
Governments and standard-setters are accelerating climate disclosure mandates and cross-border energy partnerships, with new public sector reporting rules from IPSASB, enhanced supervisory guidance from MAS, and proposed mandatory ISSB-aligned disclosures in South Korea, alongside bilateral clean energy agreements and corporate sustainability initiatives across the Asia-Pacific.
Australia-Canada
Australia and Canada have formalized a Clean Energy Partnership to collaborate on climate action and the transition to net zero emissions. The partnership, signed by Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Canada’s High Commissioner to Australia H.E. Dr Julie Sunday, reaffirms commitment to the Paris Agreement and focuses on five key areas: trade, investment, standards and supply chains; grid modernization and resilience; energy and hard-to-abate sectors; Indigenous engagement; and climate change adaptation.
💡The two countries will work through Canada’s Department of Natural Resources to deliver on the partnership’s goals.
Global
The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has released IPSASB SRS 1, Climate-related Disclosures, the first sustainability reporting standard designed specifically for governments and public sector entities.The standard requires public sector entities to disclose material climate-related risks and opportunities within their general purpose financial reports, aligning with the IFRS S2 framework to enhance consistency and comparability across public and private disclosures. The standard applies to reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2028, with earlier adoption permitted.
The framework addresses growing demand from capital markets, multilateral lenders, and citizens for transparent information on how climate change affects public finances, infrastructure, and long-term fiscal resilience. Developed with support from the World Bank, the standard reflects increasing recognition that climate exposure is a determinant of sovereign creditworthiness and fiscal sustainability.
💡By extending familiar disclosure concepts including governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics into the public sector context, the standard positions climate reporting as a core element of public financial management and aims to enable efficient access to capital markets for climate resilience financing
Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued three guidelines on environmental risk management, setting out supervisory expectations for banks, insurers, and asset managers to address climate-related transition and physical risks. The guidelines, which add to those published in 2020, require financial institutions to assess and manage these risks by adapting business models, governance, and risk practices in a forward-looking manner.
💡MAS expects financial institutions to engage customers and investee companies on climate-related risks to avoid indiscriminate withdrawal of credit, coverage, or investments, supporting broader financial stability. Institutions should also keep pace with developments in climate risk measurement and management. The guidelines, developed separately for each sector based on business models and industry feedback, will take effect in September 2027 after an 18-month transition period.
South Korea
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has released a draft roadmap proposing mandatory sustainability reporting for major KOSPI-listed companies beginning in 2028, based on 2027 fiscal year data. The reporting framework would align with International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) guidelines through newly finalized Korean Sustainability Standards Board (KSSB) rules, including KSSB 1 on general sustainability requirements and KSSB 2 on climate disclosures, which correspond to IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
Under the phased implementation timeline, companies with consolidated assets exceeding KRW 30 trillion (US$20.4 billion) would be required to report first, followed by firms with assets above KRW 10 trillion (US$6.8 billion) in 2029. Scope 3 emissions reporting would be mandatory from 2030 onward, providing extended transition relief beyond the ISSB’s initial one-year accommodation. Third-party assurance would initially remain voluntary, with mandatory assurance to be considered later based on global trends and reporting system maturity.
💡The FSC is seeking market feedback until March 31, 2026, before finalizing the roadmap in April 2026.
South Korea-USA
A research collaboration led by Stanford University and Korea University has introduced the Water Sustainability Index (WSI), a quantitative framework designed to standardize corporate water performance reporting and reduce greenwashing risk in ESG disclosures.
The index, detailed in a study published in Nature Water, evaluates water withdrawals, consumption, discharge quality, and reuse while incorporating local watershed stress conditions. The framework aims to address current gaps in water reporting, where fragmented metrics and qualitative narratives limit comparability, unlike the growing precision of carbon emissions tracking.
💡The WSI integrates watershed stress into performance scoring, recognizing that water sustainability implications vary by local conditions. Researchers tested seven scenarios demonstrating the index’s application, with scores improving through reuse practices, optimized siting, and enhanced water quality controls. The framework is designed to guide investment decisions, support capital allocation, and align corporate reporting with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation.
Vietnam-Indonesia
Green SM, the ride-hailing arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has launched an all-electric taxi service in Bali through a partnership with Taksi Komotra. Under the agreement, Green SM provides the technology platform, electric vehicle fleet, operational standards, and driver development system, while Taksi Komotra contributes local expertise and network coverage across the island.
💡The service operates under Green SM’s “5 Green Promises” framework, encompassing customer experience, professional drivers, vehicle quality, transparent pricing, and environmental sustainability.
Aviation
Airport commercial strategy is shifting from traffic volumes to passenger demographics, with younger travelers and specific nationalities driving luxury spending, while infrastructure investments continue in decarbonization, cargo connectivity, and operational resilience testing across the region.
Asia-Pacific & Middle East
Passenger behavior and demographics, not traffic volumes, now drive airport retail performance, according to a study by the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East. Based on data from 36 major airports, the study finds 56 percent of respondents report commercial revenues exceeding 2019 levels, with 44 percent expecting higher revenue per passenger in the next 12 months. Perfume and cosmetics rank as the strongest-performing category, while Gen Z and Millennials spend 3.5 times more than older generations.
💡Nationals from China, India, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are the biggest spenders, with Chinese luxury spending twice the Asia-Pacific average. Duty-free sales account for 31 to 38 percent of retail revenue across Middle East airports. About 70 percent of purchases remain impulse-driven, with product choice and pricing accounting for nearly 70 percent of purchase motivation. While 65 percent of Gen Z travelers would pay more for sustainable products, only 20 percent of airports view sustainability as a core factor in retail decisions.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong International Airport conducted its annual aircraft crash and rescue, simulating an incident involving a departing flight. The scenario involved an aborted takeoff due to cabin smoke from a power bank, causing a tire burst, runway veer, landing gear collapse, and fire. Over 1,000 representatives from approximately 20 organisations and government departments participated, with Greater Bay Airlines as the operating carrier and more than 400 volunteers role-playing as passengers and affected family members.
💡A simulated joint press conference was also conducted involving the Airport Authority, Air Accident Investigation Authority, airline, fire services, and police. The exercise was conducted to meet aerodrome licensing requirements as part of regular emergency preparedness testing under the three-runway system operation.
India-Europe
Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to enhance cargo connectivity between South India and Europe. The agreement, signed during Air Cargo India, aims to establish a structured framework focused on joint trade lane analytics, digital corridor development, pharma integrity standards, and knowledge exchange to improve visibility, reduce dwell times, and deliver more predictable service levels for cargo stakeholders.
💡The partnership connects BLR Airport, serving one of India’s fastest-growing manufacturing and export regions, with Frankfurt Airport, a major European cargo hub. The collaboration aligns with the recently concluded EU-India Free Trade Agreement, expected to unlock new momentum for bilateral trade and air cargo flows. The initiative supports BLR Airport’s investments in cargo infrastructure and technology while forming part of Frankfurt Airport’s CargoHub Masterplan to actively shape international air cargo traffic.
New Zealand
Auckland Airport has activated a fleet of 11 industrial-scale heat pumps in its international terminal, replacing one of New Zealand’s largest gas-fired air conditioning plants that had operated for over 50 years.
The new electric system, among the largest installations of its kind in the country, is expected to reduce natural gas use by approximately 40 percent while maintaining climate control for the 30,000 daily passengers traversing the 141,000-square-meter terminal. Each unit, roughly the size of a shipping container, delivers up to 600kW of heating or cooling, about 100 times the output of a typical residential unit.
💡The installation was staged over five weeks to avoid disrupting terminal operations, with the heat pumps craned up to 30 meters onto the roof. The technology was trialed for 18 months in 2023 before full deployment
New Zealand
The Queenstown Airport (ZQN) Community Fund has opened its 2026 funding round, inviting applications from community organisations in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts. Applications will be accepted from March 2 to April 7, 2026, with grants ranging from NZ$1,000 to NZ$5,000 available for projects supporting community wellbeing, youth, environmental sustainability, and resilience.
💡The fund, delivered in partnership with the 45South Community Foundation, has a total of NZ$50,000 to distribute. Priority will be given to initiatives that respond to local needs and demonstrate clear community impact.
Advanced Air Mobility
The eVTOL sector is transitioning from concept to certification through strategic avionics partnerships, public demonstration flights in urban centers, and ground infrastructure deployments, supported by continued venture capital funding and financial reporting milestones that signal maturing commercial timelines.
China
EHang Holdings Limited will release its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, on March 12, 2026, before U.S. market open. The company’s management team will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time that same day, corresponding to 8:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong Time.
💡Participants must complete an online registration process to receive dial-in information and a personal PIN for telephone access to the call.
India-Germany
The ePlane Company has entered into a strategic partnership with German avionics manufacturer HENSOLDT to supply and integrate advanced navigation and mission management systems for its e200X eVTOL aircraft. The collaboration marks the Chennai-based company’s transition from subscale prototypes to full-scale, certifiable aircraft equipped with aviation-grade systems for urban air mobility operations.
The integration will equip the e200X with digital moving maps, visual landing aids for rooftop helipads, collision avoidance antennas, and secure datalink connectivity for real-time ground communication. These systems are designed to provide enhanced situational awareness during take-off and landing in dense urban environments.
💡The avionics integration supports the aircraft’s certification programme under India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation following the internal design freeze of its avionics architecture.
Japan
Japan’s SkyDrive has completed a series of public demonstration flights of its SKYDRIVE (Model SD-05) in Tokyo, marking the first public flights of the company’s aircraft in the city. The five-day demonstration program, conducted from February 24 to 28, at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition venue, was organized in collaboration with Mitsubishi Estate and Kanematsu Corporation as part of a Tokyo Metropolitan Government project to develop business models for eVTOL services.
💡The flights evaluated integrated ground and flight operations required for future commercialization, including pre-flight preparation, departure, cruising, landing, and aircraft return procedures. The demonstration included a passenger terminal where members of the public tested pre-boarding procedures such as facial recognition-enabled check-in and security screening, with feedback collected to inform future operations
Malaysia
Aonic, a Malaysia-founded drone technology company, has secured US$10 million in Series A funding led by Kairous Capital, with backing from Malaysia’s National Fund-of-Funds through its Emerging Fund Managers’ Program.
💡The investment will advance regional and international expansion, deepen research and development, and scale the company’s in-house manufactured drones, software, and services.
UK-Japan
Skyports Infrastructure deployed its Vertiport Automation System (VAS) during a five-day series of eVTOL aircraft flight demonstrations conducted by SkyDrive over Tokyo Bay from February 24 to 28. The VAS provided the technical foundation for ground and flight operations, integrating with SkyDrive’s aircraft to monitor surrounding airspace, manage weather data and situational awareness, allocate landing and take-off slots, and digitally manage ground equipment.
💡Skyports also operated a temporary passenger terminal integrated with the system, featuring facial recognition check-in, security screening, flight information displays, and boarding guidance designed for minimal dwell time. The operations room provided a holistic view of ground and flight operations, airspace monitoring, and passenger status throughout the demonstrations.
Marine
The maritime sector is advancing decarbonization through green hydrogen corridor studies, LNG carrier expansions, and offshore wind auctions, while shipbuilding innovation includes real-sea performance guarantees and regulatory pressure mounts for inclusion of Indian recycling yards in the EU list.
India-EU
GMS, the world’s largest cash buyer of ships for recycling, has called on the European Commission to approve qualified Indian ship recycling yards for inclusion on the European List under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. More than 110 Indian yards hold Hong Kong Convention Statements of Compliance, but after a decade, 35 applications, and at least 10 Commission inspections, no Indian facility has been approved.
💡India has dismantled over 8,500 vessels in 40 years, recovering more than 67 million tonnes of steel. Alang alone can recycle 4.5 million light displacement tonnes annually, exceeding the capacity of all EU-approved yards combined. GMS analysis shows recycling steel at Alang emits 58 percent less CO₂ than producing virgin steel, with over 98 percent of materials recovered.
Japan
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and shipbuilder Japan Marine United (JMU) have signed a contract for a next-generation crude oil tanker that includes a performance guarantee based on real ocean conditions rather than conventional calm‑sea trials. The agreement incorporates an actual sea performance guarantee clause and an incentive mechanism sharing benefits between owner and yard based on achievement levels.
💡The partners began collaborating in September 2020 to develop methods for estimating hull performance in realistic weather and routing. They previously included actual‑sea guarantees in contracts for two tankers, with joint verification showing minimal differences between guaranteed speed/power curves and measured outcomes. For the new tanker, NYK and JMU will conduct joint verification during the first operational year to validate performance and refine future design models.
Japan-New Zealand
A consortium comprising Mitsui OSK Lines, Obayashi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Chiyoda has formed to study commercial production of green hydrogen in New Zealand and export logistics to Japan. Feasibility work will begin in fiscal 2026, with imports targeted for the early 2030s.
💡The consortium will map supply-chain requirements, production hubs, export terminals, and shipping operations needed for large-scale hydrogen delivery. The project aims to advance Japan’s decarbonisation across mobility, industry, and power generation while creating a new export industry for New Zealand. Practical work will assess electrolyser siting, renewable supply guarantees, carrier options, and commercial frameworks for long-term stable deliveries.
Malaysia
Malaysian shipping firm MISC has exercised options for two additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The new vessels, each with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, will be chartered to Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas under 20-year contracts, with deliveries scheduled for 2029 and 2030.
💡The long-term charter agreement initially covered three newbuildings contracted at Hudong-Zhonghua with options for three additional ships. MISC confirmed in a stock exchange filing that two more vessels will now be included under the same agreement. According to earlier yard disclosures, exercising all options would bring the total series to 10 vessels.
Malaysia
Velesto Workover, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Velesto Energy, has secured two contracts from Sabah Shell Petroleum Company to support deepwater operations offshore Sabah. The multi-year agreements cover comprehensive maintenance services for top tension risers at Shell’s tension leg platform, to be delivered in partnership with INVX Asia Pacific.
💡The contracts expand Velesto’s integrated maintenance and engineering offerings within the upstream energy sector.
Philippines
The Philippine Department of Energy has launched the fifth round of its Green Energy Auction, offering 3.3 gigawatts of fixed-bottom offshore wind capacity. Registration for developers opened on March 2, with qualified bidders to be announced on July 3 and winning bidders named on September 22. The auction sets a reserve price cap of 11 Philippine pesos (US$0.19) per kilowatt-hour for projects scheduled to begin commercial operation between 2028 and 2030.
The auction marks the country’s first offshore wind procurement under new government policies aimed at streamlining permitting and infrastructure development. The round was delayed from its original schedule to address port availability and transmission network capacity for absorbing intermittent offshore power.
Singapore
Bridge Data Centers (BDC) and Concord New Energy (CNE) have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop Singapore’s first barge-based hydrogen power generation solution for AI digital infrastructure. The partnership aims to diversify power sourcing and enhance energy security for BDC’s Singapore data center portfolio amid grid constraints and decarbonization targets. The collaboration will include Nanyang Technological University to support hydrogen ecosystem development.
💡The barge-based configuration offers advantages for Singapore’s land-constrained environment through offshore or nearshore deployment, safety segregation between hydrogen handling and data center operations, and integration with the maritime ecosystem for fuel transport and storage. The parties will also develop scalable hydrogen supply chain frameworks and assess customized power procurement structures including renewable power purchase agreements.
South Korea-Israel
Hanwha Ocean has been awarded a contract by Chevron to fabricate expansion modules for the Leviathan natural gas field offshore Israel. The project involves constructing additional modules for integration into the existing production platform to increase field output. Hanwha Ocean has supported Chevron on project development since the third quarter of 2024, providing constructability input.
💡The Leviathan expansion project, which reached a final investment decision in mid-January, includes drilling three additional offshore wells, adding subsea infrastructure, and enhancing platform treatment facilities. The project is expected to come online near the end of the decade to meet growing energy demand in local and regional markets. Chevron operates the field with a 39.66 percent stake, alongside partners NewMed Energy and Ratio Energies.
Space
Australia
A public and industry-led campaign urging the Australian government to partner with the European Space Agency (ESA) to send Australian of the Year and ESA-trained astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg on a space mission has received support from New South Wales Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology Anoulack Chanthivong. The campaign follows a formal offer with a four-week deadline extended to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese by the head of ESA for a cooperative agreement on a flight.
💡The campaign positions an ESA-Australian mission as aligning with government priorities in sovereign capability, productivity, advanced manufacturing, and international partnerships, warning that rejecting the offer would forfeit a generational opportunity as ESA flight opportunities narrow with the International Space Station’s planned 2030 deorbit.
China
China has designated aerospace as an “emerging pillar industry” in a draft national economic plan, positioning it alongside integrated circuits, biomedicine, and the low-altitude economy as priority sectors for policy support and state financing. The designation appeared in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang at the National People’s Congress opening on March 5, signaling Beijing’s intent to expand the space sector beyond strategic programs toward a broader industrial ecosystem including launch services, satellites, and data applications.
A draft of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) outlines space objectives including planetary exploration, near-Earth asteroid defense, and solar system boundary missions. The plan also calls for reusable heavy-lift launch vehicles, an international lunar research station, and a crewed lunar landing before 2030.
💡Additional goals include advancing satellite internet, building an integrated communication-navigation-sensing-computing system, and developing commercial space capabilities such as space-based computing and reusable launchers.
China and EU
The European Space Agency (ESA) and China’s Academy of Sciences Institute of Optoelectronics have both achieved gigabit-per-second laser links to satellites in geostationary orbit.
ESA announced on February 26 that an Airbus terminal maintained an error-free connection at 2.6 Gbps for several minutes to the Alphasat TDP 1 satellite 36,000 kilometers above Earth. The Institute reported establishing a 1 Gbps symmetrical link to an unnamed satellite 40,000 kilometers away, holding the connection for three hours using a 1.8-meter ground station with high-precision tracking and adaptive optics to correct atmospheric distortion.
💡The technology enables high-bandwidth communication with geostationary satellites, which are too distant for conventional radio links at comparable speeds. The Institute noted the capability could transform satellites from data relay stations into intelligent processing hubs by allowing upload of complex instructions. The advances address technical challenges including platform vibrations, atmospheric disturbances, and precise pointing requirements at extreme distances.
Japan
Space One’s Kairos rocket failed for the third consecutive time on March 5,, during a launch from the company’s Spaceport Kii in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The rocket lifted off at 11:10 a.m. local time, but the company determined mission success was difficult approximately two minutes into flight and implemented flight termination measures. Five small spacecraft were lost that were scheduled for deployment about 50 minutes after launch.
💡The third failure follows two previous Kairos launch attempts in March 2024 and December 2024, both of which were terminated early. Space One stated it will provide details on the cause of the latest failure when available.
South Korea-Canada
Maritime Launch Services (MLS) and South Korean rocket developer INNOSPACE have signed a letter of intent to evaluate hosting the HANBIT launch system at Spaceport Nova Scotia in Canada. The agreement would provide INNOSPACE with North American launch access, addressing capacity constraints and trajectory limitations at South Korea’s government-owned Naro Space Center, where launches are restricted to southward trajectories to avoid overflying neighboring countries.
💡INNOSPACE’s HANBIT rocket family uses hybrid engines designed to reduce launch costs and improve ground safety. For MLS, the partnership would secure a commercial launch provider for its Canso site, positioning it as a North American hub for small satellite launches.
**Nothing in this article is intended to be or should be construed as legal or financial advice.**