The contribution, conditional on federal government support for the mission, will fund an education and outreach program connecting Bennell-Pegg’s journey with schools and regional communities across Australia.
US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink made the comments during an Air, Space and Cyber Conference held earlier this week.
It’s understood that the government may have as little as two weeks to consider the formal offer, received earlier this year, from the head of ESA with a co-operative agreement for a flight to space.
The partnership brings together Gilmour Space's rocket propulsion, launch, mission integration and flight-test capabilities with Hypersonix's scramjet propulsion and hypersonic vehicle technology.
The statement highlighted the growing importance of space to modern military operations, underpinning communications, navigation, intelligence, surveillance and command and control.
NASA has completed a major test campaign for a lightweight, flexible radar antenna that will enable its proposed SkyFall Mars helicopters to search beneath the Red Planet’s surface for accessible deposits of frozen water.