HANOI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has become a new member of the Asian Micro-satellite Consortium (AMC), which will help it master technologies of design and production of micro satellites, the Vietnam Space Center said on Monday.

As Vietnam's representative in the Japan-based AMC, the Vietnam Space Center under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology will participate in delegation exchanges and symposiums, share satellite data to serve the control of floods, forest fires and gas emissions, and design and manufacture micro satellites for Earth observations.

It is feasible for countries like Vietnam to design and manufacture micro satellites weighing 50-100 kg, because they are less expensive and less time-consuming, the center said, adding that micro satellites can be used to research climate change, control disasters, better fishing and facilitate smart agriculture.

To date, Vietnam has placed in orbit two communications satellites - Vinasat-1 and Vinasat-2, an Earth observing satellite called VNRedsat-1, and one micro satellite PicoDragon.