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FEATURE / ANGKASA-X
NEW HOPE FOR MALAYSIA’S SPACE INDUSTRY Norilmi Amilia Ismail, Founder at SpaceIn, NGO Malaysia Space Initiative, tells my.iT how better connectivity can help improve the lives of Malaysians in far off, remote areas and those in the region. The new space economy will see more private industries involved in the upstream sector and working closely with universities in terms of human capital and R&D.
my.iT: Please tell me about MiSI and SpaceIn – how it started and its goals. Norilmi: MiSI was founded by five young space enthusiasts in 2017 looking for a platform to gather all space enthusiasts to push forward the space agenda. We met at an international conference and were introduced to each other. We realised there was no significant space programme by the Government after the launch of RazakSat in 2009. We formed MiSI a year after meeting each other. I was its first President. Our mission, was for Malaysians to learn more about space; to promote entrepreneurship in the space industry; to promote understanding of issues concerning the space industry; and to promote collaboration between government, industry and academia to advance the space industry. Meanwhile, as a lecturer, I found that my students didn’t have the opportunity to work in the space industry. The industry is small and few private Malaysian companies are involved in space activities. With USM’s blessings and seed funding, I created SpaceIn in 2020. SpaceIn aims to spearhead space exploration activities in Malaysia. We believe in the liberty of space discovery through low cost and commercially accessible technologies. SpaceIn is focusing on developing a PocketQube satellite weighing less than 1kg for IoT application. We also provide High Altitude Balloon Service for space photography and near-space experiment. In order to make space accessible to everyone, we provide space education to the younger generation through CanSat Kit for Education (CaKeD). my.iT: What sparked your interest in space? Norilmi: I challenged myself to take on Aerospace engineering in my
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undergraduate days despite knowing that the field was new for Malaysia at that time. I was the third batch who graduated from USM. I worked in the automobile industry for two years and then decided to move back to the space field by furthering my studies in Space Mission Analysis and Design. It was then that I fell in love with space. I met many people in the space industry and found similarities between myself and them. my.iT: What has MiSI and SpaceIn achieved thus far? Norilmi: MiSI is a good platform for space enthusiasts. In our first year, we were recognised by Malaysia Space Agency. We organised Space Entrepreneurship Symposium and got involved in the start-up festival to introduce space entrepreneurship. We also successfully organised the Malaysia-Singapore space summit in 2018 to foster collaboration in space organisations between the two countries. Within a year Malaysia’s USM and UPM were working with Singapore’s NTU in near-space programmes. MiSI also hosted a series of webinars during the pandemics and attracted many space enthusiasts in Malaysia to participate. I can say proudly, MiSI has now become a significant platform for academia, industry and government to sit together to plan, discuss and have space activities together. SpaceIn, meanwhile, managed to create revenues and hired fresh local talents to get involved in Pocketqube projects and space education. We have been selected to be part of the Singapore Space and Technology Ltd (SSTL) Space Accelerator Program. SSTL works with local and international start-ups of varying maturity levels from pre-seed up to Series B working on hardware products and services through the programme.
