Boosted

The ambitions of the government for the Agency are high. By 2030, the government hopes to have tripled the size of the local space industry to be worth around $10-12 billion, with a ‘B’. And, of course, create of jobs and economic growth.

“We have an extraordinary opportunity to grow the size of our domestic space industry by up to $12 billion by 2030,” said Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Michaelia Cash.

The industry growth targets are ambitious, especially considering the modest ‘seed’ investment the most recent 2018-19 budget has allocated to the Agency: $26 million over 4 years, and a further $15 million to fund partnerships with international space agencies. This means that the Agency will most definitely not be conducting missions, but will play a supportive role to industry, and importantly, ensure Australia has a seat and a voice at the table during international space conversations. This initial funding will enable the Agency to support local businesses in the global space sector, coordinate domestic activities, engage with stakeholders, and help build the country’s international networks. An exciting time for australian space businesses of all sizes who have been slogging it on their own for decades.

The Government has committed over $300 million investment in space, including the Agency’s ongoing operational funding. Where the remainder $260 million came as a pleasant surprise to many. A large chunk of funds, $225 million, will go towards upgrading and improving GPS precise positioning technology. The impacts of this will reach many Australians as it takes GPS positioning from metres to centimetres and allows for automation across agriculture, mining and even enabling safe autonomous vehicles on roads in the futures. A further $36.9 million will go towards an Earth Observation (EO) platform called “Digital Earth Australia” which will collate global satellite images of Australia, enabling public usage of this powerful data, supporting current Earth Observation businesses and capabilities and enabling new ideas and opportunities for the development of new capabilities.

The Space Agency’s first priorities are to establish a charter for the agency and to develop an overarching strategy and investment plan for Australia’s space industry. At the helm of the Agency is Dr Megan Clark AC as the interim head of the agency. Minister Cash said Dr Clark’s experience and respect – domestically and internationally – are great assets for the new agency.

The Agency’s initial priorities include:

• Communications technologies, services and ground stations
• Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and debris monitoring
• Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) infrastructure
• Earth Observation (EO) services
• Research and development
• Remote asset management
• Developing a strategy to position Australia as an international leader in specialised space capabilities

Dr Clark has led an Expert Reference Group (ERG) over the last year to interview and pull together the existing capabilities, gaps and needs of the local space agency. She has done a national tour speaking with everyone from defence through to startups to collect this information to inform the government on the creation of the Agency. As the ex- CEO of CSIRO, Dr Clark is more than qualified for the job with the experience and respect – domestically and internationally.

Now, let’s talk jobs. Creating jobs for locals is always high on the priority list for any government, but for the Agency it is very high up on the list. Minister Cash said the formation of the Agency was a great milestone for Australia, not just for our progress in science, but for the economic opportunities it presents. “This means up to 20,000 high-level jobs created across Australia.”

This is an extra-ordinary figure, and if it is realised, it would have a significant impact to all Australians. The question is, where are all these skilled and knowledgeable people going to come from? Australia’s industry is already facing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) crisis, with employers routinely citing that they are struggling to recruit quality STEM skills and relying of working visas for a lot of ICT (Information, Computers, Technology) skills.

The current generation of students going through school are not aware of the opportunities coming their way. All those little kids who dreamt of being an astronaut, whilst it is unclear whether that would be on the cards, a job with a space focus most definitely is. A major communication and education piece to make young Australians aware of the agency and increasing career opportunities, will have to play a vital role in the long term strategy of a sustainable space industry. In the short term, it is possible that people will need to be upskilled and retrained to tailor their skills and crafts to a space based environment.

Australia already has a proud history in space.

Australia has always played a role in space and international space, even if it has been in a lull in recent decades. During the Cold War we had one of the busiest space ports out in central South Australia – Arkaroola. Here we launched Britain’s sounding rockets into space. Now, the space port continues to be an aerospace centre dominated with military activities.

In 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon with his first steps being beamed around the world from an Australian satellite dish. We have since become an absolutely important part of the worlds ability to communicate long distance in space. Due to our unique geographical positioning on the globe, we are the ideal ‘ear’ for everyone needing to listen out for communications. We received Armstrong’s first communication back from the moon, we also received the first communications back to Earth from the Curiosity rover once it had landed on Mars.

Our meteorologists have been using satellite weather detection capabilities since the early 1960s and it was only in 1970 that our first satellite was launched into space with the help of NASA. We have continued to use space as a nation and play a quiet, but important, role in space missions ever since.

Our industry

The Expert Reference Group found that our current space industry employs 10,000 people already and generates around $3.9 billion annually.

‘No other industry can inspire nations quite like space.’ Dr Megan Clark

Now, our space industry has moved into more of a commercial space, just as it has in the major space nations around the world. The nation’s strongest space capability lies within the vertical of Earth Observation and other space data processing. We’re becoming increasingly sophisticated in how we use satellite imagery to inform our society. From agriculture, to climate change impact monitoring, through services strategy during times of emergencies like bush fires.

Some of our most significant work is in space operations, especially within astronomy. As we have long been the world’s ‘ear’ listening to space, we have developed fantastic ground station networks and infrastructure, with multiple entities being able to communicate, track and monitor satellites in orbit. Our astronomy capability is advanced and world class, including Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Western Australia.

Other significant aspects of our current industry include the presence of major aerospace defence businesses within Australia servicing our defence aerospace needs. We are also home to fantastic advanced manufacturing capabilities which aren’t currently focused on space based technology, the capability is there and as the space industry grows, will increase in capability. It is expected that we will increasingly develop and manufacture satellites and space products locally.