From the Magazine: AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE INDUSTRY IS DEVELOPING SPACE DOMAIN CAPABILITIES

It is now just over 52 years since man first walked on the Moon in July 1969. The author was living and working in the United States at the time and well remembers the excitement and pride of the American population in this achievement. Noteworthy was the role of the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, ACT. Australian technicians played a key part in monitoring the Apollo 11 mission and relaying the critical data back to the U.S. That included the first pictures of the momentous event which were beamed right around the world. The developments of Australia’s defence industry in their space domain capabilities have taken a surprisingly long time to emerge, with some honourable exceptions. There are now at least three companies offering launch sites on the Australian mainland, two or which offer near equatorial launches that take advantage of the Earth’s rotational speed. Another one in South Australia can launch satellites into polar orbit and provide whole Earth’s surface coverage every 24 hours. Australia is running behind New Zealand where Rocket Lab’s launch complex 1 on the North Island’s Mahia Peninsula, in 22 launches has already put 107 satellites into low Earth Orbit since 2018 including many for Australian firms and United States agencies. A common view within the Australian defence industry is that partnerships with global leaders in the space business will be crucial to local industry delivering sovereign capabilities. Their willingness to transfer unique, proven and low-risk mission solutions leveraging their expanding Australian footprint will be vital to the Commonwealth launching sovereign programs that are well integrated with coalition operations. APDR asked three industry leaders for their opinion on Australian industry’s current and future space capabilities. This is an excerpt from APDR. To read the full story, click here. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]