The Victorian Government, though Breakthrough Victoria, will invest AUD37 million in stratospheric exploration and flight company World View.
The strategic investment will enable World View to establish a regional Indo-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, which will operate as World View Indo-Pacific, a wholly owned subsidiary.
World View’s expansion will establish Victoria as a hub for stratospheric remote sensing research, with investments in research and development across Australian universities and research centres.
Future plans for World View include expanding into space tourism via the stratosphere, building and operating launch locations across the globe, including Spaceport Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
“Australia, especially Victoria, offers unprecedented access to incredibly skilled global talent, cutting-edge technology, promising partnerships, smart capital, and significant geographic leverage to support our Indo-Pacific remote sensing and future space tourism operations,” said World View CEO, Ryan M. Hartman. “We are eager to get to work in Victoria.”
World View is an Arizona-headquartered near space exploration and technology company aiming to increase access to and the utilization of the stratosphere for scientific, commercial, economic, and military purposes. Breakthrough Victoria is a independent investment company managing the Victorian Government’s AUD2 billion Breakthrough Victoria Fund.
In a press statement, the government said World View setting up its headquarters in Melbourne, which includes an advanced manufacturing facility, would create up to 200 jobs in engineering, data science and material science.
“World View’s cutting-edge technology and future jobs, especially in highly skilled areas of engineering, data science and material science, will create fantastic opportunities for Victoria and Australia,” said Treasurer Tim Pallas.
