A satellite designed and built by staff and students from Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC) is set to head to space this week aboard the SpaceX mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Binar-1 CubeSat is Western Australia’s first home-grown satellite and will be part of the cargo aboard the SpaceX… Read more »
A $2.1 million National Space Industry Hub to help bolster the NSW space ecosystem will be set up at Sydney startup incubator Cicada Innovations. NSW investment minister Stuart Ayres said the state was already home to more than a third of Australian space startups. “There is no better place to research, develop and commercialise space… Read more »
It’s been a momentous month for space-faring billionaires. On July 11, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Unity “rocket-plane” flew him and five fellow passengers about 85 kilometres above Earth. And this week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard capsule reached an altitude of 106km, carrying Bezos, his brother, and the oldest and youngest people ever… Read more »
South Australia’s reputation as the centre for the nation’s space startups has been boosted by federal government approval for a second rocket launch facility licence on the state’s Eyre Peninsula. The licence has gone to four-year-old space startup Southern Launch to establish a sub-orbital rocket testing facility at Whalers Way, near Port Lincoln, 680km west… Read more »
Space-focused tech incubator Moonshot has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the federal government’s Incubator Support Scheme to help develop space technology businesses. The grant delivers Moonshot a $500,000 boost thanks to matched backing from private investors. The funds will go towards expanding operations, launching new accelerator programs and amplifying support for local space startups.… Read more »
Over the next fortnight, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson will take off into space, because they can, on spaceships designed by their respective companies. It’s a big moment for the private space industry. But the question comes to mind: who has the smarter plan? A billionaire’s space race On… Read more »
Four leading Australian spacetech startups have been awarded $14 million in federal government grants as part of the the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI). Rocket engine designer EffusionTech, based in the Northern Territory, received $1.2 million in funding to develop and manufacture low cost, durable and high performance liquid fuelled rocket engines for the commercial launch… Read more »
Three South Australian startups have furthered their plans to support the international space industry. All based in Adelaide, the companies include Fleet Space Technologies, Inovor Technologies and Southern Launch. Southern Launch has been approved to conduct three rocket test launches from its site at Whalers Way reserve on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula… Read more »
Sydney spacetech startup Spiral Blue has launched its first prototype computers, called Space Edge Zero (SEZ), into orbit aboard Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket. Spiral Blue’s SEZ computer will introduce in-space processing of satellite images, currently unavailable to Earth observation satellites. Traditionally, Earth observation data is downloaded into a raw format from Earth observation satellites and… Read more »
The $61m series C included local VCs Blackbird & Main Sequence Gilmour Space plans to launch its first space mission from Australian soil in 2022 Its hybrid rocket offers an environmentally friendly, lower cost launch capability Gold Coast-based rocket design company Gilmour Space has landed a whopping $61 million (US$47m) series C round as… Read more »
Victoria is taking on South Australia in the local space race with RMIT University in Melbourne announced plans for a new Space Industry Hub for local companies and researchers. The Victorian government is backing the plan with $1 million in funding matched by SmartSat CRC.This funding will establish several flagship research projects aimed at connecting local… Read more »
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark will be among the first passengers aboard his Blue Origin space mission next month. The world’s second richest man took to Instagram to announce he’d be aboard New Shepard’s first human flight on July 20. “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to… Read more »
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s space launch company Blue Origin has announced it will sell its first flights into microgravity to the highest bidder. Blue Origin and its two greatest competitors in the “space tourism” field, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, claim to be advancing humanity through the “democratisation” of space. But these joyrides aren’t opening up access… Read more »
As tens of thousands of satellites are launched into orbit over Earth, UNSW Sydney startup HEO Robotics is looking to launch a space camera next year to help them keep an eye on their space assets. With tech companies ranging from Elon Musk’s Starlink to defence, weather and Internet of Things tech startups all launching… Read more »
Yesterday at 9pm Australian Eastern standard time, the Ingenuity helicopter — which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February — took off from the Martian surface. More importantly, it hovered for about 30 seconds, three metres above the surface and came right back down again. It may not sound like a huge feat,… Read more »
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