Staff reporter

Set to take place on Thursday, 6 August at The Star, Sydney, the summit will convene leaders from airlines, airports, government, and the broader aviation ecosystem to tackle the defining challenges reshaping Australian aviation.

Australia’s leading space innovators, engineers, scientists, and industry pioneers have been recognised at the seventh annual Australian Space Awards, with the nation’s rapidly growing space sector gathering in Sydney to celebrate excellence, innovation, and achievement.

The completion of the AIR5440 program, dubbed “an important milestone in the delivery of a complex air mobility capability upgrade achieved through strong defence industry collaboration”, was marked with an event at RAAF Base Richmond this month.

Now in its fourth year and backed by Principal Partner UNSW Sydney, the awards shine a spotlight on the people and businesses driving Australia’s aviation industry forward. From hundreds of entries, 164 finalists have made the cut.

The Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2026 is shaping up as the most intellectually ambitious gathering in the event’s history, with organisers confirming a final wave of world-class speakers set to take the stage in Sydney on 17–18 June.

Thomas, who served as part-time airlines editor at Australian Aviation between 2005 and 2018 and went on to found Airlineratings.com, was also a prolific aviation commentator and wrote on the sector for outlets including The West Australian, Business News and Asian Airlines & Aerospace.