After a week of excited build up, Queensland’s Gilmour Space Technologies was forced to postpone its mission to send an Australian-made rocket into orbit this week – a feat that would have made history. Gilmour Space’s first launch window opened on Thursday but the rocket stayed silent at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport – about 200km… Read more »
The husband of Australia’s first “Aussie” astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, has been appointed the new director of space at the South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC). Campbell Pegg has spent 15 years in the space industry across five countries, and was most recently assistant director for satellite engineering at Optus. He’s worked in leadership positions across government,… Read more »
Five Australian startups have scored $3.6 million in Moon to Mars supply chain capability grants as part of NASA’s ambitions to explore beyond the chunk of rock orbiting 384,400km from Earth. South Australian company entX scored $1 million to develop a radioisotope heater unit. The unit will help payloads withstand the extreme low temperatures on… Read more »
A consortium of 21 startups, space and manufacturing companies, mining giant BHP and several universities will collaborate in a project to put an Australian-made rover on the Moon. The ELO2 Consortium, co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania, is part of NASA’s Artemis Moon exploration program. The group has been charged with a $42… Read more »
A large communications satellite has broken up in orbit, affecting users in Europe, Central Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, and adding to the growing swarm of space junk clouding our planet’s neighbourhood. The Intelsat 33e satellite provided broadband communication from a point some 35,000km above the Indian Ocean, in a geostationary orbit around… Read more »
I have often said that I’m happiest in the company of founders and their teams. You are the nation’s problem solvers, hustlers, designers, and technologists. You are the funders, the rule makers and rule breakers, the mentors, the interns, our wayfinders and storytellers. To me, you represent the best of Australia. I am proud to be… Read more »
Startup founder, government tech advisor and Spark Festival director Maria MacNamara will be the next CEO of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA). Sydney-based MacNamara will step into the role on April 22 having recently completed a term as the Director of Government Affairs and Innovation Strategy at global ICT infrastructure company Kyndryl. She was… Read more »
Gold Coast rocket startup Gilmour Space has been granted approval to launch from its north Queensland facility. Federal regulators gave the company the green light under new laws introduced in 2018 to help develop Australia’s fledging space technology sector. Gilmour has developed its own hybrid rockets with a more environmentally friendly propellant and plans to… Read more »
More than $9 million has been awarded to Australian startups focused on space supply chain solutions for NASA’s Artemis program for lunar exploration. The recipients include Victorian startup NextAero, which is developing cryogenic rocket propellants, and South Australia’s Neumann Space, which is focused on electric spacecraft propulsion. The both received $1 million grants from the… Read more »
Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space Technologies has raised $55 million in a Series D ahead of a maiden launch in Queensland later this year. The raise was led by the state government-backed Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), an existing investor, alongside VCs Blackbird and Main Sequence, plus superannuation funds HostPlus and HESTA. The cash will fund the… Read more »
The University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) and Australian Centre for Business Growth (AuCBG) are collaborating to offer space startups a fully funded scaleup program that includes $10,000 in equity-free funding The six-month Growth Ramp scaleup program is being backed by the South Australian government and will support later-stage startups that have… Read more »
If someone were to ask you how space technologies impact your daily life, or how much Australia should invest in space, would you have an immediate answer or would you wonder why these questions were even being asked? Understanding what the average Australian thinks about space is essential – voters and taxpayers will only encourage… Read more »
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 »
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