Aotearoa New Zealand is the latest country to enter the expanding and competitive international space market. In the aerospace strategy and national space policy, the government lays out how it intends to grow the domestic space sector by launching rockets and satellites and promoting Earth observation research. The documents indicate the government’s general priorities in… Read more »
Adelaide satellite tech startup Fleet Space Technologies has bagged its first contract in the lucrative defence sector, signing a $6.4 million contract with Australia’s Defence Space Command. The agreement will see Fleet’s next-generation of Centauri satellites used to develop and demonstrate a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications system focused on tactical communications and data… 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 »
Quasar Satellite Technologies, a space communications startup building ground station services to replace parabolic dishes has raised $6 million in pre-Series A. The round by CSIRO’s VC fund, Main Sequence Ventures, and included PAN Group, and Marc and Lindy De Stoop of Climatech Group. The company has also scored a $5.3 million Defence Innovation Hub… 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 »
The ozone layer is on track to heal within four decades, according to a recent UN report, but this progress could be undone by an upsurge in rocket launches expected during the same period. The ozone layer protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. Destruction of the ozone layer became a… Read more »
After a severe electrical storm damaged an ATSpace rocket on the launch pad in November, the company has announced that repairs have been completed and they will attempt another launch in the coming weeks, followed by another already planned launch of a second rocket. ATSpace CEO Dr Yen Sen Chen said they were pleased to… 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 »
It’s the multi-million-dollar satellite that will collect invaluable data from space once it takes off into the cosmos. But the pieces of the puzzle that make up the $6.5 million CubeSat mission, dubbed Kanyini, have been scattered across labs and workshops across South Australia – until now. Leading South Australian space companies have procured their… 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 »
Sir Richard Branson’s Nasdaq listed rocket launch company, Virgin Orbit, is setting up shop in Toowoomba, 100km west of Brisbane, taking up an offer to establish its third global launch site from local entrepreneurs the Wagner brothers. Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ASX-listed Wagner Corporation (ASX: WGN), which operates… Read more »
Job-ready sales talent edtech Earlywork banks $1.5 million Seed round 
Sweat re-equity: Bikini Body founders Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce buy back their fitness app 
Airtasker cofounder Jonathan Lui’s proptech app, Soho, banks $750,000 to hit $20 million valuation 
B2B BNPL BizPay, which hoped to list at a $400 million valuation, has been placed in voluntary administration 
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