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 »
Space tech incubator Moonshot has nearly trebled its planned investments in local space startups, backing 11 ventures, rather than the four it had planned for 2021. As Moonshot beds down its space tech accelerator and pre-accelerator programs, CEO Troy McCann said they were overwhelmed by the quality of the applicants. “We coordinated a whopping 225… Read more »
As the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) celebrated 100 years with a spectacular and well-attended flyover in Canberra last week, many eyes were lifted to the skies. But RAAF’s ambitions go even higher, as its motto “through adversity, to the stars” hints. The Chief of Air Force, Air Marshall Mel Hupfeld, announced the intention to… Read more »
Nine companies have been selected for a place in the Venture Catalyst Space program to help them grow into space industry leaders. The Venture Catalyst Space program is part of the University of South Australia’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC), the first of its kind in Australia and a leader in space innovation and business… Read more »
Rocket Lab launched satellites by two Australian companies and one for UNSW from its Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand this week. Internet of Things nanosatellites from Adelaide’s Fleet Space Technologies and and Myriota were among several payloads on the Electron booster rocket as part of a mission titled “They Go Up So Fast”, which… Read more »
The Australian Space Forum to be held in South Australia this month will focus on bringing further investment and collaboration opportunities to the growing Australian space industry. The 11th Australian Space Forum will be held on 31 March 2021, in Adelaide, South Australia and will feature the new head of the Australian Space Agency, Enrico… 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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