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 »
High school students from Victoria will this week watch on while a SpaceX rocket carries vials of bacteria to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of an experiment to learn more about growing yoghurt in space. Students were tasked with designing an experiment to improve astronaut health and wellbeing through Swinburne University’s Space Youth… Read more »
A new manufacturing hub for space technology companies is being established in Adelaide. The South Australian government is partnering with four local startups, on the purpose-built facility, the Australian Space Park, to develop the project with a focus on collaboration and production of small satellites and their payloads, rockets, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles… Read more »
A new era of space stations is about to kick off. NASA has announced three commercial space station proposals for development, joining an earlier proposal by Axiom Space. These proposals are the first attempts to create places for humans to live and work in space outside the framework of government space agencies. They’re part of… Read more »
Adelaide satellite startup Fleet Space Technologies has raised US$26.4m (A$36m) in a series B. The round was led by existing backers Artesian Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures, Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, and Horizons Ventures – the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing – with new investors including Alumni Ventures, Hostplus, the South Australian… Read more »
Earlier this week, the International Space Station (ISS) was forced to maneouvre out of the way of a potential collision with space junk. With a crew of astronauts and cosmonauts on board, this required an urgent change of orbit on November 11. Over the station’s 23-year orbital lifetime, there have been about 30 close encounters… Read more »
Last month the Australian Space Agency announced plans to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon by as early as 2026, under a deal with NASA. The rover will collect lunar soil containing oxygen, which could eventually be used to support human life in space. Although the deal with NASA made headlines, a separate mission… Read more »
Australia could have its own locally-designed rover vehicle on the surface of the Moon by 2026 under a deal struck with NASA by the Australian government. The project semi-autonomous rover will collect lunar soil that contains oxides, with NASA looking to extract oxygen from the soil as part of plans to establish a sustainable human… Read more »
Mining tech startup, mDetect, has received a $1.5 million co-investment grant from the federal Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre to commercialise its solution for one of the most dangerous problems in mining globally. When a tailings dam at an iron ore mine in Brazil collapsed in 2019, it killed 270 people. A similar collapse in… Read more »
Internet of Things (IoT) satellite company Myriota has landed a $5.48 million contract from the Australian government for Defence tracking communications. Myriota will use its network of nano-satellites to retrieve data from sensors across hundreds of Defence platforms, forming a global, space-enabled communications network. The network, dubbed the ‘Internet of Military Things’, could deliver increased… Read more »
South Australian Internet of Things (IoT) nanosatellite startup Myriota has signed a deal with US-listed satellite data company Spire Global. The deal will see Myriota, which has its own small fleet of nanosatellites, piggyback on Spire’s low-earth orbit nano-satellite network to accelerate its IoT plans. The Australia company is Spire’s first first large-scale, commercial, IoT-focused… Read more »
Microsoft has joined Australia’s race to space with a major presence in the South Australian capital amid a partnership with the Australian Space Agency. The company has been active on several fronts while setting up shop at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen. The tech giant recently inked a deal with Nokia and the South Australian government for… Read more »
Sydney space startup HEO Robotics, has raised a seed round to launch its HEO Inspect product. The raise was led by David Harding, founder and CEO of Winton Group. The size of the investment was not disclosed. Angel investors Tim Parsons, Matt Ryall, Christian Thaler-Wolski and Phil Hayes-St Clair also backed the round, while existing… Read more »
On August 28, a SpaceX rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying supplies bound for the International Space Station. But also on board will be a small satellite that represents a giant leap into space for our research program here in Western Australia. Our satellite, called Binar-1 after the Noongar word for… Read more »
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