This week, the Australian Space Summit is celebrating some of our nation’s strengths and achievements in the space sector. But it’s taking place under the shadow of significant cuts to space technology investment announced in last week’s federal budget. Space technologies play a critical role in responding to many national priorities, such as climate and… Read more »
Sir Richard Branson’s space tech startup Virgin Orbit, which launches rockets mid-air from under a 747, is shutting down after it failed to find more funding. CNBC reports that Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told staff most operations will cease “for the foreseeable future” with 675 people losing their jobs and a skeleton staff of… Read more »
A team of University of Queensland (UQ) engineers who designed a sustainable and affordable 3D-printed rocket engine has won two awards for their invention Herik Labs won the Entrepreneur of the Year and People’s Choice awards at the UQ’s Ventures ilab Accelerator Pitch Night for their oxygen and hydrogen-powered engine. Made in a fraction of… Read more »
Indigenous Australian university STEM students have a chance to reach for the stars with a new internship program backed by the Australian Space Agency (ASA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA) was announced during the Australian visit of NASA Administrator US Senator Bill Nelson this week. NISA… Read more »
Two Australian space startups will receive $4 million grants each from the federal government as part of its Moon to Mars Trailblazer initiative to design semi-autonomous rovers to land on the Moon. Perth-based Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) consortium and the EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania consortium will each receive $4 million towards… Read more »
Australian space systems engineer Katherine Bennell-Pegg is hoping to become the first Australian-born woman in space, heading to Germany next month for astronaut training with the European Space Agency (ESA). In November last year NSW-raised Dr Meganne Christian was selected as part of the ESA’s astronaut class as one of 11 reservists. She was born… Read more »
Queensland rocket company Gilmour Space has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US-based Atomos Space to provide in-space transportation and launch aggregation services. The deal comes as Gilmour prepares for the launch of its first home-grown rocket from it Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northern Queensland Atomos offers in-space transportation services, while Gold Coast-based Gilmour, which… Read more »
Australia is celebrating the rise of women in space with NSW-raised Dr Meganne Christian selected as part of the European Space Agency’s 2022 astronaut class. She is one of 11 reservist astronauts, alongside five career astronauts and one parastronaut chosen from more than 22,500 applicants. If she goes to space, it will be as a… Read more »
This weekend marked a milestone for Western Australia’s Binar Space Program as its first satellite Binar-1 lived up to its name. Binar is the word for “fireball” in the Noongar language spoken by the Aboriginal people of Perth. Binar-1 became a real “Binar” as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the weekend. Although the chance of… Read more »
Learn, build, reiterate. That was the mantra Raj Gautam, founder and chief executive of startup QL Space, learned when he took part in the Venture Catalyst Space program. Gautam launched his start-up less than a year ago and is developing a multi-sensor remote sensing satellite for the space industry and mining sectors. Once developed, high-tech tool… Read more »
Over the next month, NASA will launch three rockets from the Arnhem Space Centre in the Northern Territory on the Dhupuma Plateau, near Nhulunbuy. The rockets are 13 metre “sounding” rockets that will not reach orbit but will take scientific observations. The launches represent a number of firsts for the Australian space industry. They also… Read more »
In the past few years, Australia has formed its own space agency and launched a defence “space command”. Billions of dollars for defence, and hundreds of millions for civilian space, have been allocated from the public purse to develop capability in this growing sector. This funding covers the Moon-to-Mars Program, the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre,… Read more »
It’s probably no surprise that keeping healthy in space is incredibly important. And without the typical resources found on Earth, creative solutions have to be explored. Right now, some excited Year 10 and 11 students from around Victoria are waiting with anticipation as their space-made yoghurt – fresh off the International Space Station (ISS) –… Read more »
Australian satellite propulsion startup Valiant Space will launch a payload onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission in June this year as it looks “green” the space sector. Valiant has partnered with local space services venture Skykraft, using its Skyride rideshare service. The primary focus of the mission is to test a new propellant valve developed… Read more »
In a few weeks’ time, a rocket launched in 2015 is expected to crash into the Moon. The fast-moving piece of space junk is the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which hoisted the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite off our planet. It has been chaotically looping around Earth and the Moon ever… Read more »
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