Space Connect’s flagship event will also expand to two days and take place on Tuesday, 28 May and Wednesday, 29 May 2024 at the ICC in Sydney.
The move — revealed earlier this year as part of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) into the military — is part of a broader shake-up that will see the newly formed No. 1 Space Surveillance Unit (1SSU) assume operation of Defence’s space domain awareness capabilities.
The ‘Spartan’ differs from traditional scramjets as it is fuelled by environmentally-friendly hydrogen and can propel its aircraft forward at 12 times the speed of sound.
The ‘Spartan’ scramjet is manufactured from special composites designed to resist the extreme heating and cooling experienced when travelling at multiple times the speed of sound.
Michael Jones, who was behind three NASA launches in Australia last year, said there’s “a lot of complexity that doesn’t appear to be there” and hinted traditional vertical blast-offs are more successful.
The company has agreed to sell its assets, including its rocket-launching 747, to four winning bidders for just $36 million – barely 1 per cent of Orbit’s valuation in 2021.