By Jessica Bainbridge, Tech Editor & Space Correspondent
On March 3rd, the 13th Space Forum took place in Adelaide with over 900 attendees and 70 exhibitors, including the likes of Airbus, Australian Space Agency, Deloitte and SmartSat CRC to name a few. It was their biggest forum yet with several key announcements being made on the day.
The morning began like all good mornings should, with coffee and networking. My first conversation of the day was with one of the exhibitors (Roberto Santucci from Arrow Electronics Australia) around counterfeit electronics and the threat this poses to Space technology. Before long, it was time to head into the main hall for the day’s first sessions.
First up, Adj Prof Nicola Sasanelli AM, CEO – The Andy Thomas Space Foundation took the stage to formally open the event and welcome the attendees, who were both in person and virtually dialling in. A video message was then played from the Head of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia who acknowledged the strong links between Australia and Italy and paid tribute to the late Italian Ambassador to Australia, Francesca Tardioli who tragically passed away at aged 57 just weeks before. She was committed to Space activities and Giorgio described her death as a “great loss for everyone and what she initiated when it came to collaborations among our two countries in the Space field”.
The second speaker of the day was The Hon Steven Marshall MP – Premier of South Australia (pictured). The Premier touched on the state satellite Kanyini, a name it acquired recently after a naming contest, joking that he was worried it might have ended up being called Satty McSat Face and was relieved when that didn’t happen. He noted Kanyini is going through its final work and observations at the moment and will go into manufacturing and testing soon. The Premier said it will play an important role for government, the commercial sector and most importantly getting young people in schools enthused about data from space. The premier also spoke on the morning’s announcement that the Morrison Government is investing $20 million into The Australian Space Park, which also includes an investment of $20 million from the South Australian Government, bringing the project total to $66 million.
Hon Melissa Price MP, Minister for Defence Industry and for Science and Technology
The Hon Melissa Price MP, Minister for Defence Industry and for Science and Technology, also spoke on the Australian Space Park, stating it is due to create 221 local jobs, as well as more than 1,000 others indirectly while inspiring the next generation of Space manufactures and researchers. Minister Price went on to announce a Space Strategic Update (SSU), this is a combined civil and defence approach to Space that will go on to create a unified national Strategy. She went on to say the SSU will align efforts across the nation through to the 2040s as we transition Australia into a leading Space player. This will be led by the Australian Space Agency, who will also work to enhance the coordination of investments across states and territories, the government, and science civil and defence activities. Minister Price then went on to announce the abolishment of launch permit application fees, which was met with applauds from the audience. Minister Price said, “from investing in new spaceports to securing space flights so that our Aussie tech can hitch a ride and test and showcase its technology, to getting Aussie astronauts into Space, we’re investing money where it is needed to make a real difference”. She said that the Australian Space Agency has also been tasked with strengthening the environment around regulations to identify improvements to procedures and practices and streamline interaction with industry.
The following session focused on international space trends with Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency opening the session. Mr Palermo introduced keynote addresses from Lisa Campbell, President Canadian Space Agency and Yves Doat, Head Of The Estrack Stations & Infrastructure section (ops-oni) at European Space Agency, noting that Canada and Europe are important partners for Australia. Enrico spoke openly about the SSU being pivotal to the ASA’s efforts for this year as they begin to work with government and industry to create what will become the National Space Strategy. Mr Palermo went on to give an update on some of the other key areas of focus for the agency in 2022 stating “they don’t plan to miss a beat” with the continuation of their programs, injecting stimulus and investment into their 7 key priority areas, the development of space supply chains in domestic and international markets, the delivery space products and services and finally the important role of inspiring and bringing Space to the nation.
Throughout the day there was also a Defence Space Update, a Space Traffic Coordination and management panel and the day ended with a session on life science research and enabling long term space habitation.
It was clear from the day that the Australian Space Industry remains extremely progressive, with significant announcements and discussions, including the formation of the Australian Defence Industry Space Capability Alliance (ADISCA) a collaboration between eight leading Australian-owned Space and Defence companies, DEWC Systems, Gilmour Space, Inovor, Neumann Space, Nova Systems, Southern Launch, REDARC Electronics and Space Machines Company, to help boost sovereign space capabilities. From here it’s onward and upwards there’s no end of possibilities for Space in Australia.
MySecurity Media attended the Forum courtesy of the Andy Thomas Space Foundation.
