HANOI, Vietnam, Aug 11, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Vietnam's only private space company, VinSpace, said Tuesday it will launch its first satellites next year using SpaceX's "rideshare" programme.

The company was set up last November by the Vingroup conglomerate, owned by Vietnam's richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, with aspirations to become the country's leading aerospace company.

Under the agreement announced Tuesday, VinSpace satellites will launch in 2027 as part of the Transporter rideshare programme from Elon Musk's SpaceX, which enables multiple customers to share a single launch.

In April, Vietnam granted a licence to SpaceX's Starlink, the communist country's first trial of large-scale satellite internet connectivity.

Starlink provides high-speed internet access to remote locations around the world via thousands of low Earth orbit satellites.