tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/space-agency-43174/articlesSpace Agency – The Conversation2020-06-01T19:28:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1397602020-06-01T19:28:53Z2020-06-01T19:28:53ZSpaceX’s historic launch gives Australia’s booming space industry more room to fly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338758/original/file-20200601-83195-175cg7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=324%2C101%2C3924%2C2720&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/49419331818/in/album-72157647244171004/">NASA Kennedy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the weekend, Elon Musk’s commercial giant SpaceX <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-31/space-x-launches-astronauts-to-iss-from-nasa-pad/12304294">launched two NASA astronauts</a> in a spacecraft named Crew Dragon which, from the inside, looked like a souped-up Tesla. </p>
<p>The Falcon 9 rocket launched the spacecraft, returned to Earth and landed on a ship to later be re-used. And the Crew Dragon eventually docked autonomously with the International Space Station (ISS).</p>
<p>The flight marks the first time in history:</p>
<ul>
<li>a commercial company has launched astronauts</li>
<li>a crewed spacecraft has docked with the ISS while “self-driving” and </li>
<li>a reusable rocket has been used to launch people, which can help cut down on debris re-entering the atmosphere, such as the rocket pieces that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/22/absolutely-amazing-space-junk-delivers-light-show-across-the-sky-in-south-east-australia">recently burned up over Victoria and Tasmania</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>SpaceX has well and truly revolutionised space travel. But what does this mean for the many Australian companies making up a new space sector Down Under?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338779/original/file-20200601-83282-dnvdyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Crew Dragon spacecraft can carry up to seven astronauts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/21314715631">Official SpaceX Photos/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>A burgeoning local industry</h2>
<p>Globally, the space sector is worth at least <a href="https://apps.bea.gov/scb/2019/12-december/1219-commercial-space.htm">US$415 billion</a>, and is expected to grow to US$1 trillion over the next decade. By then, the Australian space sector is also expected to be <a href="https://business.nt.gov.au/developing-industries/space-industry/territory-space-industry-2020/market-analysis">worth A$12 billion</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/spacex-astronaut-launch-heres-the-rocket-science-139398">SpaceX astronaut launch: here's the rocket science</a>
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<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.consultancy.com.au/news/1626/australias-space-industry-crosses-5-billion-revenue-mark">770 Australian entities</a> already develop space-related infrastructure. This includes satellites, and technologies for telecommunications or television, bushfire monitoring, weather and climate tracking, search and rescue, navigation, deep space research, and defence and security.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/strategies-for-the-future/australian-space-agency">Australian Space Agency (ASA)</a> was established with a mandate to the support Australian space industry, rather than develop a national civil space program. </p>
<p>The global commercial space sector is now watching Australia with excitement, and possibly some envy. Many countries over-regulate their space industries, or fail to give them legislative support. But Australia is a new entrant to the space sector that benefits from full government support through an industry-dedicated space agency.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338760/original/file-20200601-83195-py40mu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/49430129116/in/album-72157647244171004/">NASA Kennedy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>The commercialisation of spacefaring</h2>
<p>The 20th century <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/1950s-america/a/the-start-of-the-space-race">space race</a> began with government programs spurred by a technological and ideological competition between the US and the Soviet Union. However, today’s space race is highly commercial. </p>
<p>Many national space programs and militaries outsource to commercial entities for space services. Just this month, the Australian Department of Defence <a href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/media-releases/defence-signs-agreement-gold-coast-space-company">signed a contract with Queensland company Gilmour Space technologies</a> to develop rockets for small military cargo and satellites. </p>
<p>Rather than large, expensive technologies developed for single purposes by government agencies, we’re now in an era of <a href="https://www.geospatialworld.net/article/emerging-commercial-space-industry-new-technologies/">“NewSpace”</a>. This is a term associated with small and medium sized companies developing smaller, lighter, and therefore cheaper technologies that can be repurposed and turned into “off the shelf” components. </p>
<p>Australian companies excel at this, as demonstrated by Gilmour, <a href="https://renewalsa.sa.gov.au/neumann-space-lifts-off-at-lot-fourteen/">Neumann Space</a> – which has a unique thrust technology for small satellites – and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/06/myriota-raises-19-3-million-to-expand-its-iot-satellite-constellation/">Myriota</a>, a world leader in groundbreaking Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. </p>
<p>Giants such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing NewSpace technologies alongside their larger launch projects, and smaller companies benefit from their success when it comes negotiating public-private partnerships.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/spacex-reaches-for-milestone-in-spaceflight-a-private-company-launches-astronauts-into-orbit-138765">SpaceX reaches for milestone in spaceflight – a private company launches astronauts into orbit</a>
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<h2>Innovative mindsets pave the way</h2>
<p>Even the opening of our own spaceport in East Arnhem land, expected by early 2021, is thanks to industry innovation. </p>
<p>NewSpace company <a href="https://ela.space/what/">Equatorial Launch Australia</a> is the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/world-first-startup-wins-nasa-deal-to-launch-rockets-from-australia-20190531-p51t8g.html">first commercial company ever to receive a launch contract from NASA</a>. As a result, the company is developing the spaceport, where it will specialise in new launch technologies for small and light satellites. </p>
<p>With our own spaceport, Australia will join the ranks of just 13 other nations that have launch capacity from their territory. </p>
<p>And aside from NASA, many Australian companies and research institutes will be keen customers. <a href="https://www.inovor.com.au/">Inovor, which builds tiny nanosatellites</a> may be among the first. </p>
<p>Or perhaps Gilmour, as it tests a revolutionary hybrid propulsion rocket <a href="https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/r-d/4358-anu-re-opens-national-space-testing-facility-discovers-cosmic-hidden-treasurers?utm_source=SpaceConnect&utm_campaign=29_05_20&utm_medium=email&utm_content=3&utm_emailID=71b8ae82567b8c1542c01de0febc35d1246cdfc9f33cc7cc762cccff9659ae65">in partnership with the Australian National University</a>. This could be the first commercial rocket of its kind to launch in the world. </p>
<h2>Even in a pandemic, the space economy booms</h2>
<p>According to a <a href="https://home.kpmg/au/en/home/insights/2020/05/30-voices-on-2030-future-of-space.html">report released</a> in May by accounting organisation KPMG, by 2030 every business will be a “space business”. The report suggests humans will live, work and holiday in space, and will be mining the moon for water and minerals.</p>
<p>And while human space flight from Australian shores may not be on the horizon, SpaceX’s launch is a beacon of hope for local commercial entities – especially because they push new technologies faster than government programs tethered to budgets and low-risk approaches. </p>
<p>Moreover, the ASA is considering entering into an <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-announces-artemis-accords-for-international-cooperation-in-lunar-exploration/">Artemis Accord</a> with the US. The launch technology demonstrated by SpaceX this weekend will be part of the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon by 2024.</p>
<p>So although the national and global economy reels from the impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns, the global space economy continues to boom. And with Australia’s space industry taking off, the sky is definitely not the limit.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338774/original/file-20200601-83282-fi8sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley piloted the Crew Dragon. It’s the first spacecraft to carry humans into space from US shores since 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/49727102273/">NASA Kennedy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Steer receives funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Canadian Department of National Defence. </span></em></p>About 770 Australian entities are already developing space-related infrastructure, most of which are privately owned.Cassandra Steer, Lecturer, ANU Center for International and Public Law; Mission Specialist, ANU Institute for Space, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1192252019-06-30T19:30:31Z2019-06-30T19:30:31ZTo carve out a niche in space industries, Australia should focus on microgravity research rockets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280923/original/file-20190624-97745-1i54qu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Experiments performed in microgravity – like this one in the International Space Station by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti – can give us data not able to be gathered on Earth. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/beta/content/esa-astronaut-samantha-cristoforetti-2">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia now has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-essential-reads-to-catch-up-on-australian-space-agency-news-108671">space agency</a>, and our federal and South Australian governments are looking to grow a prosperous space industry to boost productivity and employment. </p>
<p>The challenge for Australia is to find a niche in the expanding global race to commercialise space. </p>
<p>I suggest we should focus on microgravity experiments. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-well-placed-to-join-the-moon-mining-race-or-is-it-111746">Australia: well placed to join the Moon mining race ... or is it?</a>
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<p>First of all, let’s get the definition of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-microgravity-k4.html">microgravity</a> right. </p>
<p>Micro means very small, so the term microgravity is used interchangeably with “Zero-G” or zero gravity.</p>
<p>If you’ve seen videos of people floating on board an aircraft known as the “<a href="http://www.novespace.fr/en,vol.html">vomit comet</a>”, they’re in microgravity. That doesn’t mean there’s no gravity; it means they are in freefall. </p>
<p>It’s the same sensation you may have felt at an amusement park, or in a fast-moving elevator when your stomach lifts up. </p>
<p>Objects in freefall are all falling towards something at the same speed. So in the vomit comet: the aircraft, the people and everything inside are all falling towards the ground at the same speed.</p>
<h2>A spherical flame</h2>
<p>Microgravity research makes use of that freefall condition to conduct scientific experiments. It’s particularly interesting to do so because most systems we understand well usually behave differently in microgravity. </p>
<p>For example, on Earth the flame from a struck match looks like an inverted teardrop shape and is orange. In microgravity, that same flame is spherical and <a href="https://www.space.com/13766-international-space-station-flex-fire-research.html">blue in colour</a>. This is because heat transfer is very different in microgravity than in normal gravity. </p>
<p>We learn in school that heat rises: this is what makes the match flame become pointed at the top – all the heat in the flame is rising upwards.</p>
<p>In microgravity, heat doesn’t rise. It stays exactly where it is. So the flame in microgravity keeps its heat focused around the match and burns much hotter, which is why it appears blue. </p>
<p>Understanding these simple processes allows scientists and engineers to design equipment for use in spacecraft, which experience microgravity all the time.</p>
<h2>Experiments at microgravity</h2>
<p>There are more than <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/">300 experiments</a> currently happening aboard the International Space Station, making it the largest off-world scientific laboratory. From biotechnology to earth and space science, and from physics to human research, we are continually finding out new things about our world from experiments in microgravity.</p>
<p>Scientifically, such experiments have great value. For example, crystal forms of a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1169">protein involved in the disease cystic fibrosis</a> – a life-threatening lung disease caused by a genetic mutation – can be grown in microgravity. Without the effects of gravity, the crystals grow much bigger and with higher purity. Researchers can use these “super crystals” to determine protein structure, and improve the drugs currently used to treat cystic fibrosis. More efficient drugs reduce the need for lengthy lab-based research and development and improve the quality of life of patients. </p>
<p>Data from observations of <a href="http://eea.spaceflight.esa.int/portal/exp/?id=9641">how liquid metals solidify</a> in microgravity has been used to change how we cast turbine blades on Earth. Changes to these models and processes has resulted in the manufacture of <a href="http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/impress/text/education/Circular%20Motion/Turbine_Blades.html">lighter and stronger blades</a> for aircraft engines. Lighter aircraft leads to lower fuel consumption and so less greenhouse gas emission resulting in reduced airfares to the consumer.</p>
<h2>Opportunity for Australia</h2>
<p>Australia has little involvement with the International Space Station and we don’t have a Zero-G aircraft. So we must look to other types of microgravity platform to conduct any research. </p>
<p>Up until the 1970s we <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">launched sounding rockets from Woomera, South Australia</a> – but as a defence project those flights stopped when other countries pulled out. </p>
<p>A sounding rocket is so-called from “sonda” the Latin word for “probe” – it’s a rocket that takes measurements. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">Lost in space: Australia dwindled from space leader to also-ran in 50 years</a>
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<p>In 2019 the <a href="https://ayaa.com.au/">Australian Youth Aero Association</a> held the inaugural <a href="https://aurc.ayaa.com.au/">Australian Universities Rocket Competition</a> to boost new capability in sounding rocket technology in Australia. </p>
<p>The rocket launches with a rapid acceleration which lasts for a few seconds. After the motor has used up all its fuel, the rocket traces out a huge arc in the sky, where everything inside is in zero gravity before it falls back down to earth.</p>
<p>Because we only need the rocket to be in freefall to achieve microgravity, the rocket doesn’t even need to go into space to conduct the experiment. </p>
<p>This growing number of microgravity platforms available in Australia provides scientists with a new environment in which to <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2019/apr/hive-rocket-team">conduct experiments</a>. </p>
<h2>Cost versus risk</h2>
<p>Student-built rockets are low cost – however, model rocketry is also high-risk, and not ideal for precise scientific measurements. If the safety parachute fails to deploy, the rocket risks a ballistic landing, destroying the rocket and everything on board – including that valuable scientific experiment.</p>
<p>Many nations have active sounding rocket programmes using reliable rockets that regularly launch to altitudes well above 100 km, the boundary that separates aeronautics from astronautics and the commonly accepted “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line">edge of space</a>”. </p>
<p>In Australia, <a href="https://ela.space/">Equatorial Launch Australia</a> (ELA) are working with The Gumatj Corporation Limited, Developing East Arnhem Limited and the Northern Territory Government to build Australia’s first spaceport. </p>
<p>The site in the Northern Territory is sufficiently well advanced that <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/world-first-startup-wins-nasa-deal-to-launch-rockets-from-australia-20190531-p51t8g.html">NASA recently announced</a> they would work with ELA to launch sounding rockets into sub-orbital space from the Arnhem Space Centre in 2020.</p>
<p>Thanks to the proximity of northern Australia to the equator and expertise in ground station operation, Australia has an opportunity to carve out a niche in launching sounding rockets to conduct microgravity research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119225/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gail Iles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On Earth the flame from a struck match looks like an inverted teardrop shape and is orange. In microgravity, that same flame is spherical and blue. Heat transfer is different with minimal gravity.Gail Iles, Lecturer in Physics, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1179122019-06-10T20:07:05Z2019-06-10T20:07:05ZNASA and space tourists might be in our future but first we need to decide who can launch from Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278019/original/file-20190605-40723-1r96nkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C0%2C2048%2C1364&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US, May 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/32826734977/">NASA Kennedy </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a sign the Australian Space Agency is already opening up new doors for Australian industry, NASA <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/nasas-surprise-australian-location-pick-for-worldfirst-rocket-launch/news-story/aa14341726461cac0918ff79bfe2daa1">says</a> it will be launching rockets from Arnhem Space Centre, in Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory, in 2020.</p>
<p>Minister for Industry, Science and Technology <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/another-part-of-the-puzzle-andrews-looks-to-the-science-on-climate-change-20190530-p51spy.html">Karen Andrews has also indicated</a> she will encourage space tourism from Australia. She wants passengers to experience zero-gravity from the convenience of a domestic airport.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ethical-questions-for-how-we-choose-to-use-the-moon-116801">Five ethical questions for how we choose to use the Moon</a>
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<p>But who gets to decide what can be launched into space? That depends on where the launch takes place, and in the case of Australia those rules are currently under review.</p>
<h2>International treaty</h2>
<p>The authority for who approves, supervises and grants permission for launch of space objects is based on UN treaties that provide a framework for international space law. The most important is the Outer Space Treaty (<a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">OST</a>), which entered into force in 1967.</p>
<p>Article VI of the OST provides that nation states (that is, countries) bear “international responsibility” for “national activities” undertaken in outer space by government and commercial users alike. </p>
<p>States remain responsible for activities undertaken by commercial entities – for example, companies such as SpaceX – and are obliged to undertake ongoing supervision of such activities. </p>
<p>How individual countries choose to conduct such supervision is left entirely up to them, but in most cases it is done by way of domestic space law. </p>
<p>Another international treaty, the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introliability-convention.html">Liability Convention</a> provides that the liability of the state extends to all launches that are made from that state’s territory. For example, the US is legally responsible for all launches that take place from that country as well as for launches elsewhere that it procures.</p>
<p>This imposes a significant burden on the state to ensure that international requirements are complied with. </p>
<p>Domestic space law regulates matters such as the granting of launch permits, and insurance and indemnity requirements. In Australia, this is achieved through the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00092">Space Activities (Launches and Returns) Act 2018</a>. In New Zealand, the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0029/latest/DLM6966275.html">Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017</a>, applies. </p>
<h2>The Starlink network</h2>
<p>In the US, it’s the Federal Communications Commission (<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/">FCC</a>) that gave Elon Musk’s SpaceX permission to launch <a href="https://theconversation.com/lights-in-the-sky-from-elon-musks-new-satellite-network-have-stargazers-worried-117829">thousands of Starlink satellites</a> as part of a plan to create a low-orbit internet network.</p>
<p>The licence is for one constellation of 4,409 satellites and a second constellation of 7,518 satellites. The FCC requires launch of half of the total number planned within six years.</p>
<p>The first <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-launches-60-starlink-internet-satellites.html">60 satellites were launched into orbit</a> last month, and have already given rise to a number of concerns.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lights-in-the-sky-from-elon-musks-new-satellite-network-have-stargazers-worried-117829">Lights in the sky from Elon Musk's new satellite network have stargazers worried</a>
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<p>Scientists and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lights-in-the-sky-from-elon-musks-new-satellite-network-have-stargazers-worried-117829">astronomers are worried</a> such a large constellation of satellites will be <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2205172-astronomy-group-calls-for-urgent-action-on-spacex-starlink-satellites/">visible to the naked eye</a> in the night sky. In response, Musk has already agreed to make the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-worry-new-constellation-satellites-could-impact-night-sky-180972312/">next batch less shiny</a>.</p>
<h2>Penalties apply</h2>
<p>As well as granting launch licences, the FCC can also issue fines for any unlicensed launch by US operators.</p>
<p>Swarm Technologies <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/20/18150684/swarm-technologies-illegal-satellite-launch-fcc-settlement-fine">launched four SpaceBee satellites</a> from India in January 2018, after having been denied a licence from the FCC. The FCC was concerned the satellites were too small to be effectively tracked by the US Space Surveillance Network.</p>
<p>FCC subsequently <a href="https://spacenews.com/fcc-fines-swarm-900000-for-unauthorized-smallsat-launch/">fined Swarm US$900,000</a>, partly as a way to spread the word that licensing of launching is a serious business but because the company had also performed other activities that required FCC authorisation.</p>
<p>In addition to presenting issues for tracking, new satellites also presented a hazard in terms of their <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacexs-starlink-could-cause-cascades-of-space-junk/">potential to create large debris fields</a>.</p>
<p>Notably, there are no binding international laws with respect to the creation of space debris. There are <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/spacelaw/sd/IADC-2002-01-IADC-Space_Debris-Guidelines-Revision1.pdf">non-binding Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines</a> issued by the UN Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. But these are only guidelines and are frequently overlooked in the interests of commercial expediency.</p>
<p>The 2018 Australian Act does require the applicant for various Australian licences (such as a launch permit) to include “a strategy for debris mitigation”. This may include, for example, a plan to de-orbit the satellite after a certain number of years.</p>
<h2>Launches from Australia</h2>
<p>Australia’s first claim to fame as a space-faring nation was the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/50-years-since-first-satellite-launch-wresat/9205878">launch of WRESAT (the Weapons Research Establishment Satellite)</a> from Woomera, South Australia, in 1967. </p>
<p>But the launch platforms on nearby Lake Hart were dismantled following the departure to French Guiana in 1971 of the European Launcher Development Organisation (<a href="https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2805">ELDO</a>) – whose name ELDO still graces the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eldohotel/">sole hotel in Woomera</a>, in outback South Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278038/original/file-20190605-40727-u9ls8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The ELDO hotel in Woomera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kool_skatkat/198371680/in/photolist-iwGZo">Flickr/kool skatkat</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>From this time until the late 1990s there was <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">little interest in space launches</a> from Australia. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">Lost in space: Australia dwindled from space leader to also-ran in 50 years</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A00391">Space Activities Act 1998</a> was enacted in response to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-launch-from-australia-something-missing-from-our-plans-for-the-new-space-race-97924">brief interest in US company Kistler Aerospace developing a spaceport</a> at Woomera, SA. </p>
<p>But no spaceport was constructed nor any launches conducted. A review of the Space Activities Act and of the Australian space industry in 2016-2017 led to the new Space Activities (Launches and Returns) Act in 2018.</p>
<p>This Act envisions a broader role for domestic space industries, including but not limited to, launch.</p>
<p>The rules which flesh out the details of the application of that licensing regime are <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space/space-launches-and-returns-act-2018-draft-rules/">currently open for public review and comment</a>. The deadline for making a submission closes at the end of this week.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa de Zwart is a Board Member of the Space Industry Association of Australia. </span></em></p>This are looking up when it comes to launching things into space from Australia. The rules on what can be launched are currently under review and open for comment.Melissa de Zwart, Professor, Adelaide Law School, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983072018-06-25T06:04:41Z2018-06-25T06:04:41Z3, 2, 1…liftoff! The science of launching rockets from Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223733/original/file-20180619-126537-1qfa7gp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aircraft and missiles on display at Woomera, South Australia. Will we launch more rockets from here in the future?
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woomera-sa-australia-november-12-aircrafts-1036915795?src=eaJey8U570eZCNdC_Hf2lA-1-16">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s space agency will officially commence operations on <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/cash/media-releases/turnbull-government-launches-australias-first-space-agency">July 1 2018</a>.</p>
<p>As inaugural agency head Megan Clarke <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-14/australian-space-agency-boss-predicts-jobs-boom/9756890">surveys our national capability in space</a>, many states are putting forward strong cases regarding their <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-global-space-agencies-rely-on-australia-lets-turn-that-to-our-advantage-97939">existing relationships</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-were-looking-for-in-australias-space-agency-views-from-nsw-and-sa-92278">human resources and infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>But from where should Australia launch rockets? Woomera in South Australia launched its <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">first rocket in 1967</a>, but in reality Australia could support multiple launch sites. And the closer to the equator, typically the better. </p>
<p>Let’s look at why. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-launch-from-australia-something-missing-from-our-plans-for-the-new-space-race-97924">No launch from Australia: something missing from our plans for the new space race</a>
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<h2>Launching the payload</h2>
<p>The first step in a space venture is to launch the payload (typically a satellite) and get it to stay in a suitable orbit without falling back to earth.</p>
<p>To achieve this, first the rocket must lift itself and the payload from the launch pad, through the lower levels of the atmosphere to altitudes greater than 100 km. This is achieved using a near vertical trajectory.</p>
<p>Once outside the atmosphere, the climb angle is reduced and the rocket starts to accelerate to reach its orbital velocity. It must travel at more than 7.8km/s (approx 28000 km/h) to stay in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). LEOs are orbits with an altitude of less than 2000km, and are used by the majority of small satellites. </p>
<p>The majority of the rocket fuel is used in this acceleration phase. The high final velocity is required to ensure the released payload stays in orbit.</p>
<p>However, by appropriate selection of launch site and launch direction, the required velocity to achieve LEO can be reduced. </p>
<p>The earth rotates one revolution per day in the eastward direction, which results in a surface velocity of 0.46km/s (approx 1670 km/hr) at the equator. As you move north or south from the equator, this surface velocity decreases. </p>
<p>So, in the ideal case, launching eastwards from the equator, the velocity to stay in LEO is reduced from 7.8km/s to approximately 7.3km/s.</p>
<p>As fuel required to attain these speeds is proportional to velocity squared, this is a substantial saving.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-were-looking-for-in-australias-space-agency-views-from-nsw-and-sa-92278">What we're looking for in Australia's Space Agency: views from NSW and SA</a>
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<h2>Different launches for different orbits</h2>
<p>This speed advantage is most important for spacecraft leaving earth and satellites going to geostationary orbit (a high earth orbit, where they rotate with earth and remain exactly above a fixed point on the ground). By launching from the equator in a purely eastward direction they can fully utilise this speed advantage. </p>
<p>However, for small satellites aiming for LEO this has limited value. They would circle above the equator and could only view (or be visible from) a strip several hundreds of kilometres wide. </p>
<p>Instead most LEO launches are slightly to the north or south of the equator, so that the resulting orbit is inclined relative to the earth equatorial plane. From these orbits, after multiple passes, most of the earth (excluding the north and south pole) is visible. </p>
<p>A good example of such an orbit is the International Space Station, which can be tracked at <a href="http://www.isstracker.com/">ISS tracker</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223816/original/file-20180619-126553-1cp94yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">International Space Station astronaut Ricky Arnold doing a spacewalk in June 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/another-day-at-the-office">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The exception to this are satellites in what are called <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OrbitsCatalog/">sun synchronous and polar orbits</a>, flying almost directly over the north and south pole. These require launches in the north or south direction and cannot utilise the speed advantage. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-is-launching-a-tesla-into-space-heres-how-spacex-will-do-it-91069">Elon Musk is launching a Tesla into space – here's how SpaceX will do it</a>
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<h2>Blue skies, no wind</h2>
<p>The biggest motivator for building launch sites close to the equator is the the speed advantage and associated fuel savings mentioned above. Reductions in fuel mass allow increases in allowable payload mass.</p>
<p>This is reflected by the major well established spaceports: Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA), Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (Russia), Kourou in French Guinea (Europe), and Jiuqan (China) all of which are located in the vicinity of the equator.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, there will be significant demand for future launch capacity to LEO either on inclined or sun synchronous orbits, as they are easy to reach and well suited for observation and communication satellites. </p>
<p>Secondary considerations for choosing launch sites are weather and climate related. Obviously blue sky days with little wind are desirable for launching, but – as demonstrated by Cape Canaveral in Florida – it is possible to operate a space-port in a region regularly visited by hurricanes. Nevertheless NASA cites weather as one of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/F_Lightning_and_Launches_9_12.html">main causes for launch delays</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, it is desirable for launch sites to be close to towns and cities so that people have somewhere to live, and so that launch sites can contribute to the local community. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-global-space-agencies-rely-on-australia-lets-turn-that-to-our-advantage-97939">The big global space agencies rely on Australia – let's turn that to our advantage</a>
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<h2>Launching from Australia</h2>
<p>Australia has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">rich heritage</a> in space related innovation, research, and collaboration, dating back to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-part-in-50-years-of-space-exploration-with-nasa-24530">NASA</a> Mercury and <a href="https://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/other_history.html">Gemini</a> programs.</p>
<p>Today there are several home-grown start-ups developing launch capabilities for access to space, such as <a href="http://hypersonix.space/">Hypersonix</a> and <a href="https://www.gspacetech.com/">Gilmour Space Technologies</a> (plus <a href="https://www.rocketlabusa.com/">Rocketlab</a> in New Zealand), all specifically targeting small satellite launches.</p>
<p>An evolution from this would be an Australian space port, which would further spur on these developments and help grow Australia’s space industry.</p>
<p>So far the majority of rocket launches in Australia have been conducted at the <a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/woomera/index.htm">Woomera Prohibited Area</a>, located in South Australia. An advantage of Woomera is that trajectories initially run over land. This allows easier communications with the rocket or flight experiment, making it ideal for rocket development. But this isn’t essential in space launches.</p>
<p>Being a large country, Australia can accommodate multiple launch sites. Equatorial Launch Australia (<a href="https://ela.space/">ELA</a>) recently announced that they have secured land to start construction of the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/australias-first-commercial-space-base-to-launch-rockets-within-a-year/news-story/eb7841c5b39e04fd31302e8b1056e3ab">Arnhem Space Centre</a> in the Northern Territory in 2018.</p>
<p>Similarly Australian Space Launch (ASL) is <a href="https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/expert-wants-to-launch-a-space-station-in-north-ql/3369794/">exploring locations</a> in the Bowen region, North Queensland and <a href="https://southernlaunch.space/">Southern Launch</a> have started site selection along the south coast. </p>
<p>Space launches from Australia can be expected in the not so distance future.
Having a national launch capability will significantly boost the growing space and satellite industry.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-steps-australia-can-take-to-build-an-effective-space-agency-86617">Five steps Australia can take to build an effective space agency</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ingo Jahn is affiliated with the Centre for Hypersonics at the University of Queensland. I have been a past and am a current recipient of Australian Research Council and external funding to develop hypersonic technologies. </span></em></p>We’ve launched rockets from Woomera in South Australia, but in reality Australia could support multiple launch sites. And the closer to the equator, typically the better.Ingo Jahn, Senior Lecturer, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983852018-06-20T20:08:43Z2018-06-20T20:08:43ZWhy we don’t need to prepare young people for the ‘future of work’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223949/original/file-20180620-126566-1vwa5xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ultimately, the future of work depends on what we want our future society to look like.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While there is little consensus about the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-of-work-3473">future of work</a>”, one thing is certain – <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-do-something-about-jobs-for-young-people-in-a-world-of-automation-68342">young people are at the coalface</a>. Young workers experience insufficient opportunities for work experience, a mismatch between work and education, a lack of career management skills and scant entry-level jobs, according to a <a href="https://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/FYA_TheNewWorkReality_sml.pdf">report</a> from the Foundation for Young Australians. </p>
<p>But this report makes a mistake that is unfortunately common in the debate on the future of work. The proposed “solutions” fixate on increasing the supply of talented young people, when the problem is a lack of demand.</p>
<p>There are two avenues for addressing this problem. One involves big-picture, pie-in-the-sky thinking like kickstarting entirely new industries. The other focuses on the smaller, less exciting solutions such as filling existing gaps in the labour market. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, politicians have largely focused on the former, which could leave many young workers out in the cold.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-isnt-unskilled-graduates-its-a-lack-of-full-time-job-opportunities-90104">The problem isn't unskilled graduates, it's a lack of full-time job opportunities</a>
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<p>The foundation’s report identifies a lack of jobs and work experience opportunities as core problems facing young people. It recommends investing in individual coping mechanisms and expanding the “entrepreneurial skills base” of young workers. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this deals with only one part of the problem. If only 50 jobs are available for every 100 young workers in our economy, increasing their skill level doesn’t make all 100 young workers any more likely to get a job. </p>
<p>Expanding the skills base does nothing to increase the jobs available. At worst, it risks further diluting and devaluing the high skills base that Australia is already producing, without any better outcomes for young people. </p>
<h2>Addressing the lack of demand</h2>
<p>Politicians are often attracted to “<a href="http://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Sp14_innovationSymposium.pdf">silver bullet</a>” options. This usually involves attracting investment in emerging industries like advanced manufacturing, robotics and space technologies. </p>
<p>Announcements like a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-04/elon-musk-tesla-to-give-solar-panels-batteries-to-sa-homes/9394352">partnership with Elon Musk</a> on energy technology or launching a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-25/government-to-establish-national-space-agency/8980268">space agency</a> are popular because they are potential vote winners. These initiatives make governments look ambitious, forward-facing and innovative.</p>
<p>And while they may be costly, there are many positive outcomes from this kind of big-picture thinking. These industries could produce spin-off technologies, for instance. If properly executed, these industries can become nation-building projects. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, neither our <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/STEM_AustraliasFuture_Sept2014_Web.pdf">university</a> nor <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0030/1481457/Australian-apprenticeships.docx">vocational education</a> systems are equipped to provide for these sectors. </p>
<p>The lack of a pipeline to these sectors increases the likelihood that more experienced, older Australian workers are employed or foreign skilled visas issued. </p>
<p>Even if we overhaul our post-secondary education systems – and <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-do-something-about-jobs-for-young-people-in-a-world-of-automation-6834">we should</a> – there is no guarantee that they will offer immediate solutions to the problems facing young workers.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-improve-internships-and-placements-embed-technology-in-their-design-97250">To improve internships and placements, embed technology in their design</a>
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<p>On the other hand, there is a great opportunity to redirect young job seekers towards the existing skills and occupational shortages in the labour market. </p>
<p>Department of Employment <a href="https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/skillshortagelistaus_8.pdf">statistics</a> show that Australia has shortages of sonographers, audiologists and midwives. Similarly, professionals like architects, surveyors and veterinarians, as well as a variety of mechanical, electrical and technical trades, are in very short supply. </p>
<p>Fee waivers, government stipends or scholarships could entice job seekers to enrol in the specialised degrees that will fill these gaps. </p>
<p>The Victorian government <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/freetafe.aspx">recently announced</a> it intends to do just that. Free TAFE courses will be offered to job seekers who want to enrol in apprenticeships or short courses to address these shortages.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://theconversation.com/frozen-wages-insecure-jobs-struggling-youth-rising-inequality-shrinking-unions-join-the-dots-50981">active labour market programs</a> like this are often overlooked. </p>
<p>Other options include employer <a href="https://www.jobs.gov.au/wage-subsidies">wage subsidies</a>, or <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/graduate-numbers-up-for-home-affairs-and-defence-down-or-steady-elsewhere-20180201-h0rwr1.html">increasing graduate intakes</a> in government departments. </p>
<p>Subsidies effectively reduce the labour cost of employing younger, less experienced workers in existing industries. However, to ensure these subsidies address the problems facing young workers, they should contain strategic requirements. For example, they could be contingent on employers providing personal and career development for entry-level or graduate employees. </p>
<p>Increasing graduate intakes in the public service also has the potential to utilise a wide variety of graduate skill sets. Technical graduates in science and mathematics disciplines could increase their <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-isnt-unskilled-graduates-its-a-lack-of-full-time-job-opportunities-90104">worrying low employment rates</a> and provide expertise to a number of departments. </p>
<p>Similarly, generalist streams could be expanded to utilise the diverse skill sets provided by humanities and social science degrees.</p>
<h2>Investing in the mundane</h2>
<p>More radical options are also available to governments, without going down the space agency route. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/09/28-hour-week-gains-momentum-in-german-unions-push-for-flexible-rights">Reductions in working hours</a> in Germany, the British proposal for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/07/why-a-jobs-guarantee-would-benefit-us-all">jobs guarantee</a>, and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-01/finland-universal-basic-income-welfare-reform/9709798">basic income trials</a> in Finland offer alternative models to support young people in the future of work. </p>
<p>These all have the potential to reduce the number of hours worked by those in the labour force, creating demand for additional workers.</p>
<p>Finally, there is another radical yet almost banal possibility – the government could itself invest in the more mundane sectors of our economy. </p>
<p>The growing service economy has the potential to provide rewarding careers and innovative solutions to complex problems. We often look to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rahuldi/2016/10/27/attracting-international-students-global-competition/#a9ce3f949967">attract international students </a> to our educational institutions, but we don’t apply the same thinking to aged care or child care.</p>
<p>Similarly, we need to think about job quality not just quantity. </p>
<p>By recognising the importance of these sectors, and looking for how the economy can benefit from specialised knowledge, we could provide stronger pathways for our young people. </p>
<p>However, this begins with recognising the value of this work, appropriate remuneration and career development for the workforce, and investing in research and development in these sectors.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the future of work depends on what we want our future society to look like. If we value the long-term security and stability of our young people, then we must look beyond supply-side solutions to demand problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shirley Jackson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>Young people are the most vulnerable as industry and the labour market undergo radical change, but meeting this challenge could just be a matter of plugging existing gaps.Shirley Jackson, PhD Candidate in Economic Sociology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/965422018-05-15T06:25:43Z2018-05-15T06:25:43ZAs the details emerge on Australia’s new space agency, we (might) finally have lift-off<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218920/original/file-20180515-100709-p13i0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A promise of new jobs from Australia's new space agency.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Harvepino</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Details of Australia’s new space agency were released on Monday with the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australian-Government-Response-to-the-Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.pdf">federal government’s response</a> to the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/FINAL_ERG-Review-Report_10-May_accessible.pdf">Report on the Review of Australia’s Space Industry Capability</a>.</p>
<p>The Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Senator Michaelia Cash, also announced the appointment of Dr Megan Clark AC as the interim head of the agency.</p>
<p>Clark, a former head of the CSIRO, was chair of the Expert Review Group that led to the report on the nation’s space industry capability, so she is well placed to deliver on the recommendations that her own panel made.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-agency-for-australia-heres-why-its-important-96105">Space Agency for Australia: here's why it's important</a>
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<h2>Show me the money</h2>
<p>First, let’s talk about money. Last week’s federal budget set aside <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/business.html">A$41 million for the agency</a>. That’s A$25 million for the agency itself and A$16 million for a space investment fund. This is well towards the bottom end of expectations and there will be limits to what can be achieved with that level of funding. </p>
<p>But we have already seen that this sector can be very productive. The Australian Space Research Program (<a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/Final_evaluation.pdf">ASRP</a>), which ran from 2010 to 2013, was funded at A$40 million and produced a huge amount of good work such as making the huge Landsat satellite imagery archive more available for users, and testing a scramjet launcher.</p>
<p>Critically, though, that scheme did not put any assets in space, although subsequent work did. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.garada.unsw.edu.au/">project</a> I ran, for instance, developed a space-ready GPS receiver, which now flies on <a href="https://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/news/we%E2%80%99re-off-to-space">four differently configured cubesats</a> in orbit. Another example is the start-up <a href="http://myriota.com/">Myriota</a>, which spun out of another ASRP project developing “Internet of Things” applications in space.</p>
<h2>Other budget funding</h2>
<p>What can also not be ignored in the federal budget is the <a href="http://minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/canavan/media-releases/better-gps-and-satellite-imagery-support-smarter-economy">A$260 million</a> for a space-based augmentation system (<a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/White%20Paper%20-%20SBAS.pdf">SBAS</a>) to improve satellite navigation and geospatial technologies. </p>
<p>This dwarfs the direct funding given to the space agency, but may present a good model for how to progress Australian space assets in future. The agency identifies need and solution, does some feasibility work, and facilitates the development.</p>
<p>But the bulk of the funding is recognised for what it really is: <a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-murray-darling-water-theft-a-space-agency-can-help-australia-manage-federal-resources-83727">critical national infrastructure</a> and is funded accordingly. What happens next should be an open and transparent bidding process, leading to an Australian system consistent with international standards, and bringing new capabilities.</p>
<h2>What’s supported</h2>
<p>The government’s response on the need for a space agency specifically deals with the nine recommendations of the report:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Develop a national industry strategy (supported)</p></li>
<li><p>Focus strategy on “leapfrog” emerging areas such as next generation sensors, communications, propulsion and launch systems (supported)</p></li>
<li><p>Establish the Australian Space Agency (supported)</p></li>
<li><p>Ongoing funding for agency (supported), industry development fund (noted), with the option to bring funding forward (supported in principle)</p></li>
<li><p>Extend treaties and international agreements (supported)</p></li>
<li><p>Work across government departments (supported in principle)</p></li>
<li><p>Facilitate regulation appropriate for Space 2.0 (supported in principle)</p></li>
<li><p>Engage with schools (supported in principle)</p></li>
<li><p>Engage closely with industry (supported).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>For an electorate conditioned to expect governments to ignore recommendations from experts, this is an impressive amount of support, and bodes well for the space agency’s future.</p>
<p>The language of the announcement is enthusiastic: “A$300 million investment in space industry and technology”, “fantastic opportunity to triple the size of our domestic space industry”, “potential to create 20,000 jobs”.</p>
<h2>The journey so far</h2>
<p>It is instructive to reflect on how we got to this point from where we were ten years ago.</p>
<p>In 2008 the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Economics produced a report called <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Completed_inquiries/2008-10/space_08/report/index">Lost in Space - Setting a new direction for Australia’s space science and industry sector</a>, in which it clearly and unambiguously called for the establishment of a space agency.</p>
<p>The following year the Rudd government launched the <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/Final_evaluation.pdf">Australian Space Research Program</a>, funded at A$40 million, which delivered many good outcomes, as mentioned above.</p>
<p>This momentum was then stopped with the release in 2013 of the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Publications/Pages/Australias-Satellite-Utilisation-Policy.aspx">Satellite Utilisation Policy</a>, which stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(…) the Australian Government does not see an Australian satellite manufacturing or launch capability as an essential element of its approach to assured access to critical space-enabled services.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The anti-agency lobby, mostly based in Canberra, had intervened, and the agency idea was effectively dead. It was in that hostile environment in 2013 that I first laid out my <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-reasons-why-australia-urgently-needs-a-space-agency-16386">case</a> for the agency.</p>
<h2>Another about-turn</h2>
<p>Slowly, over the years, others such as the <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/SIAA%20White%20Paper%20-%20Advancing%20Australia%20in%20Space.pdf">Space Industry Association of Australia</a>, also came to make an argument. </p>
<p>Unable to resist the growth of space activity, the government set up the Expert Review Panel – chaired by Clark – whose report was released on Monday. But the space agency was <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/doorstop-interview-adelaide-16">announced last year</a> at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide.</p>
<p>From a position where government policy was actively to discourage effort in satellites and launch five years ago, we now have support for a recommendation that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(…) the Agency facilitates regulatory approval processes for small satellite launch facilities in Australia and the launch of Australian satellites overseas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a huge turn-around.</p>
<p>Call it irony, call it the real world, but now some of those in Canberra who so forcefully resisted the agency, making misery for us advocates, are now saying that it must have its main presence in Canberra. Similarly, South Australia is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-25/sa-should-play-role-in-australias-new-space-agency-premier-says/8984194">lobbying strongly to host it</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-were-looking-for-in-australias-space-agency-views-from-nsw-and-sa-92278">What we're looking for in Australia's Space Agency: views from NSW and SA</a>
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<p>When I have pointed to the <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space-activities/review-of-australian-space-industry-capability/consultation/view_respondent?_b_index=120&uuId=173909982">New South Wales submission</a> to the Expert Review Panel, and the 17 ways in which NSW dominates the space sector in Australia (listed in the comments section <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-were-looking-for-in-australias-space-agency-views-from-nsw-and-sa-92278">here</a>), I am not saying the agency must be in NSW – I’m saying that there is no case to favour either SA or the ACT.</p>
<p>The Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr has already warned against “<a href="https://www.innovationaus.com/2018/05/Space-agency-details-revealed">pitting states against each other</a>”, and Raytheon Australia says that state rivalry for Defence work is getting “<a href="https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/key-enablers/1952-state-rivalry-for-defence-work-reaching-hysterics-raytheon-australia">hysterical</a>”.</p>
<p>A national approach, with nodes in each state and territory, will be the most productive solution. All of the states have exciting things happening – we don’t want to mess that up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster works for UNSW. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Defence Materials and Technology Centre. He is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and Seaskip Pty Ltd. </span></em></p>New jobs and investment for Australia’s growing space industry are promised with the backing of the new space agency. It’s hoped that all states and territories will benefit from a national approach.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/965262018-05-14T20:14:24Z2018-05-14T20:14:24ZSmall sats are vital to Australia’s space industry – and they won’t be space junk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218753/original/file-20180514-178746-19xb9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Small satellites are launched to Low Earth Orbit - and then eventually burn up. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/home">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today the federal government released its <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australian-Government-Response-to-the-Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.pdf">response</a> to the review of Australia’s Space Capability. </p>
<p>Among the details regarding the establishment of Australia’s first space agency, and a national space industry strategy, it is clear that small satellites will have a place in our space future. </p>
<p>The following recommendations were marked as “supported” or “supported in principle”: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Australia should […] take advantage of the global space technology paradigm
shift towards constellations of miniaturised spacecraft for communications and Earth observations</p></li>
<li><p>[…] the Agency [should facilitate] regulatory approval processes for small satellite launch facilities in Australia and the launch of Australian satellites overseas.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>But won’t all these new satellites just make the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/step-up-australia-we-need-a-traffic-cop-in-space-86464">space junk problem</a> even worse?</p>
<p>Luckily, the answer is no. And it’s due to the satellite “self-cleaning zone” that surrounds Earth.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trash-or-treasure-a-lot-of-space-debris-is-junk-but-some-is-precious-heritage-82832">Trash or treasure? A lot of space debris is junk, but some is precious heritage</a>
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<h2>How satellites stay in orbit</h2>
<p>For a satellite to <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OrbitsCatalog/">remain in orbit</a> around Earth, it must have a velocity of at least 7.9km per second, and must not drop below approximately 200km altitude in any part of its orbit.</p>
<p>If its velocity or its orbit is too low, it will be drawn back to Earth by a combination of gravity and atmospheric drag. </p>
<p>Another key aspect of a satellite’s orbit is its inclination relative to the Equator. Equatorial orbits – when the orbit is around the Equator – have zero inclination. Polar orbits, on the other hand, pass over both the north and south poles, and have an inclination of 90 degrees. </p>
<p>Other orbits sit at inclinations between 0° and 90°. The orbit of the international space station, for example, has an inclination of 51.6°. So it passes over the parts of Earth that are within 51.6° of latitude north and south of the Equator. Its orbit has an average altitude of 400km. (For comparison, the radius of the Earth is 6,378 km.) </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8-mKLs2b3MM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The orbit of the International Space Station.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Low orbits for small satellites</h2>
<p>Until about the year 2000 almost all useful satellites (ones that performed functions such as communications or weather observation) were big – weighing as much as 10,000kg. They also tended to be in orbits with altitudes greater than 2,000km.</p>
<p>This has changed due to the rapid development of micro-scale, low-power electronics that we all use every day in our mobile phones. Satellites can now weigh just hundreds of kilograms and perform the same function in terms of communications and earth observation. </p>
<p>There is also a movement (including in Australia) towards even smaller satellites called “<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cubesats/gallery/index.html">cubesats</a>”, weighing less than 20kg, which have limited capability and life. One implication of this smaller size is the need to be close to Earth. </p>
<p>Modern small satellites are all in Low Earth Orbit, with altitudes less than 1,000km. For example, a company called Planet has a constellation of <a href="https://www.planet.com/faqs/">about 200 satellites</a> which supply images of almost anywhere on the planet on a daily basis. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-3CHSjJLL9w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Polar (blue) and inclined (red) orbits around Earth.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The self-cleaning zone</h2>
<p>Despite the fact that the edge of Earth’s atmosphere is generally considered to be at 100km altitude, in reality it reaches much higher. In practice, any satellite in Low Earth Orbit will eventually be slowed down by impacts with air molecules and will return to Earth in a fiery re-entry. This may seem like a significant limitation for small satellites. But actually it is extremely helpful.</p>
<p>Due in part to their size limitation, most small satellite have a useful life of between one and five years. After this time a replacement satellite with the latest technology must be launched. If it wasn’t for the fact that Low Earth Orbit is a self-cleaning zone, the small satellite revolution would clog up the space around us with junk.</p>
<p>So when you hear about another planned constellation of hundreds of satellites, don’t worry too much. So long as they are in Low Earth Orbit, and most likely they will be, the Earth’s “vacuum cleaner” will clean up after us.</p>
<p>But what about the International Space Station? It is also in the Low Earth Orbit zone – so its orbit needs to be continuously maintained, which requires significant reserves of fuel. At some point, however, it will suffer the same fate as the much smaller Chinese space station Tiangong-1 and make a fiery re-entry. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-falling-space-station-highlights-the-problem-of-space-junk-crashing-to-earth-93295">China’s falling space station highlights the problem of space junk crashing to Earth</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Smart receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
He is one of the founders of a Space start-up company called Hypersonix</span></em></p>So long as small satellites are in low Earth orbit – and most likely they will be – the Earth’s “vacuum cleaner” will clean them up.Michael Smart, Professor of Hypersonic Aerodynamics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/960112018-05-08T10:48:58Z2018-05-08T10:48:58ZBudget 2018: space agency details still scant - but GPS and satellite imagery funded<p>The Federal Government has announced <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-budget-2018-at-a-glance-95649">$41 million of funding</a> to kickstart the Australian space sector over the next four years. </p>
<p>The $41 million of funding is allocated across:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>establishing the national space agency ($26 million over four years - $5.7 million in 2018/19, $9.8 million in 2019/20, $11.8 million in 2020/21 and $13.7 million in 2021/22)</p></li>
<li><p>international space investment ($15 million for grants over three years).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As expected, the funding establishes a national space agency, and ex-CSIRO head Dr Megan Clark is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-03/australia-space-agency-funding-in-federal-budget-2018/9720370">tipped to serve</a> as the inaugural head. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-budget-2018-at-a-glance-95649">Infographic: Budget 2018 at a glance</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>The surprise in the budget is the around $260 million investment in applying satellite data to Australia – mostly in precise positioning but also in satellite imagery. </p>
<p>The applications of space technology cover:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>$225 million for precise positioning technology that makes GPS signals accurate to centimetres, not metres, which unlocks efficiency and automation possibilities in agriculture, mining and transport </p></li>
<li><p>$36.9 million to improve “Digital Earth Australia”, a platform that assembles global satellite images of Australia in a user-friendly and publicly accessible way. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>End to ambivalence</h2>
<p>This budget marks the first time Australia has had an official space agency, and puts an end to decades of Australian ambivalence towards civilian space.</p>
<hr>
<h3>Timeline of key events in Australia’s space activities from 1957-2018: click on arrows at right and left to go back and forth.</h3>
<iframe src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1XyVlDLjkmySON9coL-C6aQawqPOUakVkFDWwcgpPwzs&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650" width="100%" height="650" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p><em>Adapted with permission from Kerrie Dougherty - this timeline first appeared in her <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">review</a> of Australia’s space activities in 2017.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>The emphasis on industry shows the agency’s mission is to enable the growing Australian space sector to strut its stuff on a global stage.</p>
<p>The space industry is worth <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-new-reports-add-clarity-to-australias-space-sector-a-crowded-and-valuable-high-ground-88004">more than A$400 billion per year</a>, and plays an increasingly vital link in civil and military activity.</p>
<p>The government’s concept of a space agency is as an economic and national security play – it is not aimed as a catch-up attempt to lavishly funded international peers like NASA. </p>
<p>With this budget, the government is trying to walk a fine line between enabling successful Australian businesses in the high-tech space game, and creating a sector dependent on government largesse. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-agency-for-australia-heres-why-its-important-96105">Space Agency for Australia: here's why it's important</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Four key aims of the space agency</h2>
<p>The $41 million over four years is about the minimum viable amount to start towards these goals. Sensibly spent, it is enough to achieve the core aims of an Australian agency.</p>
<p><strong>International credibility for Australian space:</strong> Australian space businesses bidding for international work dread the question “why doesn’t Australia have an agency?” as it’s often the prelude to “without an agency it’s just too risky for us to work together”. A funded agency takes this objection off the table and levels the playing field.</p>
<p><strong>Support for Australian business:</strong> Early-stage grants to help businesses prove concepts – for example, to build a launch-ready small satellite – are within the means of this budget. This will help Australian startups cross the “valley of death” from concept to export-ready, space-tested hardware.</p>
<p><strong>Federal and international coordination:</strong> A mix of state and federal agencies have a hand in civilian space activities; a funded agency will help impose order domestically and serve as a focal point for international engagement with other space agencies.</p>
<p><strong>Long term strategic planning for the sector:</strong> Space is a long lead-time business. The agency will be responsible for strategic planning for the sector. The money will give its plans clout and an ability to nudge startups and universities into growth areas through funding allocations.</p>
<p>This is not the sort of funding for an agency that will be hiring engineers and building its own spacecraft. Most of the money will be spent in partnerships with commercial companies and universities to help get new ideas and good companies off the ground. </p>
<p>Some will be spent with international agencies to give Australia a “seat at the table” and a chance to bid for international contracts. These partnerships are the likely role of the $15 million earmarked for space investment.</p>
<p>The budget is light on detail and there are many unanswered questions, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>what areas will Australia focus on?</p></li>
<li><p>where will key parts of the agency be located?</p></li>
<li><p>what will the future of the agency look like after the four years?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I look forward to seeing these details in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Wicht is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Center for a New American Security. The Alliance 21 program receives funding from the Australian Government and industry.</span></em></p>$41M over four years is about the minimum viable amount to start towards important goals for an Australian space agency.Anthony Wicht, Alliance 21 Fellow (Space) at the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/922782018-03-29T00:24:57Z2018-03-29T00:24:57ZWhat we’re looking for in Australia’s Space Agency: views from NSW and SA<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212394/original/file-20180328-109182-1lmtme1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We're all waiting to hear what shape Australia's Space Agency will take. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/business-vision-team-searching-success-concept-744376240?src=JBgN4ioXcVUwu5ymHVoqgw-2-33">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been a long time coming, but Australia is finally going to have a Space Agency. This will enable Australian space industries to benefit from agency-to-agency agreements and collaborations, and facilitate our participation in the growing global space market.</p>
<p>The Federal Government appointed an <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">Expert Review Panel</a> to map out how the Agency should operate. As we wait for its report – the final strategy was scheduled to be submitted in March 2018 – two space experts offer their perspectives on what we might expect.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">Lost in space: Australia dwindled from space leader to also-ran in 50 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What will an Australian Space Agency need in terms of people, resources and infrastructure?</h2>
<h3>Andrew Dempster:</h3>
<p>It seems clear there is a real appetite on both sides of politics for an agency for our times, that embraces the excitement being generated by “Space 2.0” – that is, commercial entities, low-cost access to space and avoiding some of the baggage of the older legacy agencies. </p>
<p>It’s likely the focus will be on growing the Australian space industry, with less emphasis on space exploration, human space flight and space science. However, for the agency to have any impact or credibility, the people, resources and infrastructure must be provided at an adequate level. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-space-what-the-uk-space-agency-can-teach-australia-28559">in the past</a> pointed to the UK agency as a good model – it basically cost “nothing” initially and significant funding followed when it succeeded. Now, I don’t think we can afford to replicate this in Australia. The agency needs to be properly funded from the beginning. Penny-pinching will kill it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-space-what-the-uk-space-agency-can-teach-australia-28559">Investing in space: what the UK Space Agency can teach Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h3>Alice Gorman:</h3>
<p>We’ve been here before and seen how a lack of resourcing plays out. The 1980s Australian Space Board was managed by a small office within the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce, but it fizzled out after ten years and we were back to square one. There’s a strong feeling in the Australian space community that a substantial investment in a stand-alone agency is the only way to avoid another death by bureaucracy. </p>
<p>In terms of personnel, we’ll need leadership with credibility and experience in the global space arena, people familiar with how existing space activities across government departments work, and probably there’ll be a role for some kind of advisory or expert panels.</p>
<p>The structure will also be important. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, for example, runs 11 research centres, and the <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a> has nine centres or facilities, including the Kourou launch site in French Guiana. They support human spaceflight programs as well as deep space exploration. Both organisations use private contractors, and large chunks of the private space sector rely on them as clients. This is not a model that Australia can sustain. </p>
<p>Personally, I think it’s critical that the new agency also takes Indigenous interests on board. Indigenous people can’t be left out of conversations about the future of Australian space technologies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-silence-of-ediacara-the-shadow-of-uranium-72058">Friday essay: the silence of Ediacara, the shadow of uranium</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How strongly should the Space Agency be linked with Defence programs?</h2>
<h3>Andrew Dempster:</h3>
<p>Recently the Australian Strategic Policy Institute <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/australias-future-space">argued</a> that we must develop a solid space industry for our own strategic and Defence needs. However, strong industries such as that in the US have a dominant civilian space sector. </p>
<p>So I would argue that to avoid this strategic weakness, it is more important to reinforce the independence of the civilian agency from Defence. It is the job of the agency to ensure this independence. Being overly close to Defence is likely to hamper the current civilian commercial drive so effectively being driven by the start-up community. Having a thriving civilian space sector can only benefit Defence anyway.</p>
<h3>Alice Gorman:</h3>
<p>I agree with Andrew that forging a new civil and commercial space identity is essential.</p>
<p>Because the <a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/woomera/about.htm">Woomera</a> rocket launch site, one of our most significant space assets, is located in South Australia, as well as the <a href="https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/">Defence Science and Technology Group</a> – which grew out of the Cold War weapons program – South Australia has traditionally been the focus of Defence-related space activities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212395/original/file-20180328-109185-mvc1ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A recent rocket launch from Woomera, South Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Image Gallery</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At this stage we can be hopeful that a properly funded space agency will allow equal participation across all states. </p>
<h2>Where should Australia’s Space Agency be located?</h2>
<h3>Alice Gorman:</h3>
<p>There’s interest in where the agency will be located because there will be jobs associated with it. I’ve had so many enquiries from acquaintances – and strangers – asking about this. </p>
<p>People probably are thinking it will be something like NASA, with a whole industrial complex. We’re not anything like that scale. Having said that, a Canberra-based headquarters supported by state-based centres makes a lot of sense.</p>
<h3>Andrew Dempster:</h3>
<p>I’ve <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-dempster-254/articles">written a lot</a> about Australia’s space agency, and recently I outlined an example of why a federal approach is essential: using <a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-murray-darling-water-theft-a-space-agency-can-help-australia-manage-federal-resources-83727">space assets to monitor the Murray Darling Basin</a> to avoid water theft. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-murray-darling-water-theft-a-space-agency-can-help-australia-manage-federal-resources-83727">Preventing Murray-Darling water theft: a space agency can help Australia manage federal resources</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In terms of location, I agree there will need to be an administrative presence in Canberra, to interact with the Federal Government. Other satellite sites should reflect where the action is. </p>
<p>If there are to be satellite offices, they need to be close to where the industry is currently active, and where it is developing. This may require some sort of representation in each state. </p>
<p>Senator Kim Carr’s recent <a href="http://www.senatorkimcarr.com/labor_to_create_space_industry_jobs">announcement</a> of Labor’s policy of several hubs and centres lends itself very well to distributed activity around the country. Bipartisanship on that issue would be very helpful.</p>
<h2>Which Australian states have relevant space capabilities right now?</h2>
<h3>Alice Gorman:</h3>
<p>I live in South Australia, so am naturally well acquainted with this state’s space achievements! A number of exciting new start-ups such as <a href="https://www.fleet.space/">Fleet</a>, <a href="http://neumannspace.com/">Neumann Space</a> and <a href="http://myriota.com/">Myriota</a> are based in Adelaide. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sasic.sa.gov.au/">South Australian Space Industry Centre</a> funds space accelerator and incubator programs. Every year, we host the <a href="http://www.unisa.edu.au/spaceprogram">International Space University Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-sports-car-and-a-glitter-ball-are-now-in-space-what-does-that-say-about-us-as-humans-91156">A sports car and a glitter ball are now in space – what does that say about us as humans?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The three universities in South Australia have strengths in satellite telecommunications, space law and space heritage. At the international level, South Australia has been developing relationships with the French national space agency (<a href="https://cnes.fr/en">CNES</a>), as well as French aerospace industries. </p>
<h3>Andrew Dempster</h3>
<p>I am from NSW so I have a particular interest in the <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space-activities/review-of-australian-space-industry-capability/consultation/view_respondent?_b_index=120&uuId=173909982">NSW Department of Industry submission</a> to the expert review panel. It suggested “the future Australian Space Agency should be based in NSW” and goes on to list 17 reasons why NSW dominates in space, such as having the largest space workforce, revenue, research effort, number of start-ups, venture capital and law presence. </p>
<p>The only <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/">centre</a> funded by the Australian Research Council on space is in NSW, and two of the four satellites built and launched last year involved my university.</p>
<p>However, I don’t believe there is any benefit to highlighting one state over another. I’m with Raytheon Australia, whose <a href="https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/key-enablers/1952-state-rivalry-for-defence-work-reaching-hysterics-raytheon-australia">official position</a> is that state rivalry for Defence work is getting “hysterical” and we should be avoiding that with space work.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-new-reports-add-clarity-to-australias-space-sector-a-crowded-and-valuable-high-ground-88004">Three new reports add clarity to Australia's space sector, a 'crowded and valuable high ground'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Really exciting things are happening in space all over Australia. Australia’s launch company <a href="https://www.gspacetech.com/">Gilmour Space Technologies</a> operates out of Queensland. A lot of space start-ups are being nurtured by <a href="https://www.moonshotspace.co/">Moonshot X</a> in Victoria. Western Australia boasts the <a href="http://fireballsinthesky.com.au/">Desert Fireball Network</a> and the only Australian picosat (small satellite) developer, <a href="http://picosat.systems/">Picosat Systems</a>. The ACT hosts the large testing facility, the <a href="http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/aitc">Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre</a>.</p>
<h3>Alice Gorman:</h3>
<p>Back in 1958, the beginning of the Space Age, Australia was one of the founding members of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. We’ve been kind of <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">missing in action</a> ever since. </p>
<p>The new Space Agency will allow us to have a credible voice on issues that may impact Australia – such as revisions to the international space treaties. It’s going to be exciting times ahead!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster is director of Seaskip Pty Ltd. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Defence Materials Technology Centre. He sits on the Advisory Committee of the Space Industry Association of Australia. He made a personal submission to the Expert Review Panel. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Gorman is a Director on the Board of the Space Industry Association of Australia, and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Opinions expressed here are her own.</span></em></p>What will Australia’s space agency look like? Two experts agree it needs deliberate investment from government, and that it should facilitate participation across states and territories.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyAlice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880042017-11-28T19:08:32Z2017-11-28T19:08:32ZThree new reports add clarity to Australia’s space sector, a ‘crowded and valuable high ground’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196249/original/file-20171124-21795-e8qo5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=93%2C373%2C3998%2C2372&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three new reports examine Australia’s existing space capabilities, set them in the light of international developments, and identify growth areas and models for Australia to pursue. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/136319147@N08/23629554508/in/photolist-C14Djd-brt87D-5WCvsj-88Cmv3-npwZJQ-a8ja2k-7WWnPH-8Qpj2i-9DanXf-88z3Vz-292jSN-7S5vPk-a47QeL-aqvjHi-kxDkTP-HfjTkc-ofhtgu-9Tuwgu-o4zoNb-2NvKmr-aqvjRg-h8Xwqf-q8aryo-rbdYdc-nP74dG-bwLNyn-k36zt-8pgyZs-acf9T2-6aYabi-idKo3t-jyL531-Tvtfsy-2Vb3LG-aD4o9X-h8XpvH-9A92bG-PPbr9S-aD8wGU-84oQZ9-aMDMsx-HfjT9R-bsnP1e-6FiSCR-6FiSGD-bqRPzr-nuKzUc-qannsh-qoTFx2-5e8wFi">136319147@N08/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia seems on the brink of embracing space in a coordinated manner, but how should we do it? </p>
<p>This week, the Australian government <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">released three reports</a> to help chart the future of Australia’s space industry. Their conclusions will feed into the <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/sinodinos/media-releases/expert-review-australia%E2%80%99s-space-industry-capabilities-participate">review of Australia’s space industry</a> underway by former CSIRO head Dr Megan Clark. </p>
<p>The reports examine Australia’s existing space capabilities, set them in the light of international developments, and identify growth areas and models for Australia to pursue. The promise is there: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Australia has scattered globally competitive capabilities in areas from <a href="http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/">space weather</a> to <a href="https://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/">deep-space communication</a> but “by far the strongest areas” are applications of satellite data on Earth to industries like agriculture, communications and mining</p></li>
<li><p>Australian research in other sectors like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-australias-3d-printed-rocket-engine-is-being-tested-2017-9">3D printing</a> and <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/09/27/starlight-vr-trainer-opaque/#rOaasU9.Oqq6">VR</a> is being translated to space with potentially high payoffs </p></li>
<li><p>global trends, including the demand for more <a href="https://theconversation.com/step-up-australia-we-need-a-traffic-cop-in-space-86464">space traffic management</a>, play to our emerging strengths</p></li>
<li><p>the prize for success is real - the UK currently has an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575804/LE-SHUKSI_2016-INFOGRAPHIC-FINAL_S2C171116.pdf">A$8 billion space export industry</a>, and anticipates further growth.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>While it is <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/publications.php">not the first time</a> the government has commissioned this type of research, the updates are welcome given the fast pace of space innovation. Taken together they paint a picture of potential for the future of Australian space and a firm foundation for a space agency.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-steps-australia-can-take-to-build-an-effective-space-agency-86617">Five steps Australia can take to build an effective space agency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The rules of the game</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Industry-Dynamics-Paper.pdf">Global Space Industry Dynamics</a> report from Bryce Space and Technology, a US-based space specialist consulting firm, sets out the “rules of the game” in the US$344 billion (A$450 billion) space sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196631/original/file-20171128-2089-1gvsixw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The global space economy at a glance. Figures are from 2016, and shown in US$.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Industry-Dynamics-Paper.pdf">Marcella Cheng for The Conversation, adapted from Global Space Industry Dynamics Research Paper by Bryce Space and Technology</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It highlights that: </p>
<ul>
<li>three quarters of global revenues are made commercially, despite the prevailing perception that space is a government concern</li>
<li>most commercial revenue is made from space-enabled services and applications (like satellite TV or GPS receivers) rather than the construction and launch of space hardware itself</li>
<li>commercial launch and satellite manufacturing industries are still small in relative terms, at about US$20.5 billion (A$27 billion) of revenues, but show strong growth, particularly for smaller satellites and launch vehicles.</li>
</ul>
<p>The report also looks at the emerging trends that a smart space industry in Australia will try and run ahead of. Space is becoming cheaper, more attractive to investors and increasingly important in our data-rich economy. These trends have not gone unnoticed by global competitors, though, and the report describes space as an increasingly “crowded and valuable high ground”.</p>
<p>What is particularly useful about the report is its sharp focus on the three numbers that determine commercial attractiveness: </p>
<ol>
<li>market size</li>
<li>growth</li>
<li>profitability.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>The magic comes through matching these attractive sectors against areas where Australia can compete strongly because of existing capability or geographic advantage.</p>
<p>The report suggests growth opportunities across traditional and emerging space sectors. In traditional sectors, it calls out satellite services, particularly commercial satellite radio and broadband, and ground infrastructure as prime opportunities. In emerging sectors, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">earth observation</a> data analytics, space traffic management, and small satellite manufacturing are all tipped as potentially profitable growth areas where Australia could compete. </p>
<p>The report adds the speculative area of space mining as an additional sector worth considering given Australia’s existing terrestrial capability.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">Space mining is closer than you think, and the prospects are great</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is encouraging that Australian organisations have anticipated the growth areas, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">UNSW’s off-earth mining research</a>, to Geoscience Australia’s <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/geographic/digital-earth-australia">integrated satellite data</a> to Mt Stromlo’s <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/">debris tracking capability</a>. </p>
<h2>Australian capabilities</h2>
<p>Australian capabilities are the focus of a second report, by ACIL Allen consulting, <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australian-Space-Industry-Capability-A-review.pdf">Australian Space Industry Capability</a>. The review highlights a smattering of world class Australian capabilities, particularly in the application of space data to activities on Earth like agriculture, transport and financial services. </p>
<p>There are also emerging Australian capabilities in small satellites and potentially disruptive technologies with space applications, like 3D printing, AI and quantum computing. The report notes that basic research is strong, but challenges remain in “industrialising and commercialising the resulting products”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Cen3uMG_ik?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Australian universities made cubesats for an international research project.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The concern about commercialisation prompts questions about the policies that will help Australian companies succeed. </p>
<p>Should we embrace recent trends and rely wholly on market mechanisms and venture capital Darwinism, or buy into traditional international space projects? </p>
<p>Do we send our brightest overseas for a few years’ training, or spin up a full suite of research and development programs domestically? </p>
<p>Are there regulations that need to change to level the playing field for Australian space exports?</p>
<h2>Learning from the world</h2>
<p>Part of the answer is to be found in the third report, <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/BRYCE-Australia-Global-Space-Strategies-and-Best-Practices-Paper.pdf">Global Space Strategies and Best Practices</a>, which looks at global approaches to funding, capability development, and governance arrangements. The case studies illustrate a range of styles.</p>
<p>The UK’s pragmatic approach developed a £5 billion (A$8 billion) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575804/LE-SHUKSI_2016-INFOGRAPHIC-FINAL_S2C171116.pdf">export industry</a> by focusing primarily on competitive commercial applications, including a satellite Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">recently bought</a> a time-share on.</p>
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<p>A longer-term play is Luxembourg’s use of tax breaks and legal changes to attract space mining ventures. Before laughing, remember that Luxembourg has space clout: satellite giants SES and Intelsat are headquartered there thanks to similar forward thinking in the 1980s. Those two companies pulled in about A$3 billion of profit between them last year.</p>
<p>Norway and Canada show a middle ground, combining international partnerships with clear focus areas that benefit research and the economy. Norway has taken advantage of its geography to build satellite ground stations for polar-orbiting satellites, in an interesting parallel with Australia’s longstanding ground capabilities. Canada used its relationship with the United States to build the robotic “Canadarm” for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, developing a space robotics capability for the country.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Canadarm played an important role in Canada-USA relations.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The only caution is that confining the possible role models to the space sector is unnecessarily limiting. Commercialisation in technology fields is a broader policy question, and there is much to learn from recent innovations including <a href="http://www.csiro.au/en/Showcase/Innovation-fund">CSIRO’s venture fund</a> and the broader Cooperative Research Centre (<a href="https://www.business.gov.au/assistance/cooperative-research-centres-programme">CRC</a>) program.</p>
<p>As well as the three reports, the government recently released <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space-activities/review-of-australian-space-industry-capability/consultation/published_select_respondent">140 public submissions</a> to the panel. </p>
<p>There is no shortage of advice for Dr Clark and the expert reference group; appropriate given it seems an industry of remarkable potential rests in their hands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Wicht is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Center for a New American Security. The Alliance 21 program receives funding from the Australian Government and industry.</span></em></p>Space is becoming cheaper, more attractive to investors and increasingly important in our data-rich economy. It’s time Australia mapped a path forward.Anthony Wicht, Alliance 21 Fellow (Space) at the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/864642017-11-17T03:26:03Z2017-11-17T03:26:03ZStep up Australia, we need a traffic cop in space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195101/original/file-20171116-15403-15bl321.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=667%2C354%2C517%2C487&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Right now there are more than 20,000 objects in space. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81559">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Right now there are around <a href="https://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faq.html#3">21,000 artificial objects</a> being tracked in Earth orbit (and many millions too small to be tracked). Only about <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/space-weapons/satellite-database#.Wg4w_7Zg3OQ">1,750</a> of these are functional satellites. </p>
<p>If we don’t adequately manage the traffic of objects in outer space, many services on which we depend will no longer be available. </p>
<p>I argue that Australia should step up and fill this role. “Space traffic management” could be an enduring, national beacon project to inspire and galvanise the Australian space industry. This will be particularly important as the <a href="http://minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/sinodinos/media-releases/turnbull-government-establish-national-space-agency">prospective</a> Australian space agency builds momentum in 2018.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Yes, Australia will have a space agency. What does this mean? Experts respond</a>
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<h2>The US is stepping back</h2>
<p>Non-functional orbiting objects are known as space debris. It’s an <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/topics/space-debris/index.html">ongoing problem</a> and only likely to become worse, with plans to <a href="http://spacenews.com/spacex-oneweb-detail-constellation-plans-to-congress/">add many thousands</a> of small satellites to the current population of <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/space-weapons/satellite-database#.WfZVa0x7FE4">active satellites</a>. </p>
<p>Right now, the US Air Force is trying to <a href="http://spacenews.com/strategic-command-envisions-civil-space-traffic-management/">divest itself</a> of the space traffic management role – a responsibility that it has previously assumed for the world by default. The US Federal Aviation Administration has said that it is <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/telecommunications/space-traffic-cop-needed-in-digital-age-adelaides-astronautical-congress-hears-20170925-gyoii3">willing to take this on</a>, but there are <a href="http://spacenews.com/report-recommends-civil-agency-for-space-traffic-management/">many issues</a> to resolve, including control over assets, finances and human resources.</p>
<p>The Australian space industry, facilitated by the prospective Australian space agency, can seize this opportunity. We are well suited to play a role that will be valuable from a commercial perspective, and that will place us in a strong strategic position in the future global space industry and its governance.</p>
<h2>Defining the problem</h2>
<p>There’s a fair amount of debate about the <a href="http://spacenews.com/muddling-through-space-traffic-management/">scope of space traffic management</a>. At the very least it encompasses <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/research/">a means of knowing</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>what’s up there orbiting Earth</li>
<li>where orbiting objects are, in as near to real-time as possible</li>
<li>whether they pose any risk of damage, such as a future conjunction between two objects, or interference, such as between the frequencies on which they transmit.</li>
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<p>It could also encompass an advisory, or even directive, service to satellite operators to avoid collisions and avoid contributing to the existing space debris population. That implies that <a href="http://www.cissm.umd.edu/publications/orbital-traffic-management-study-final-report">space “rules of the road”</a> may be established. </p>
<p>Of course, satellites cannot physically stop at “intersections”, like we see in traffic management on Earth. But we could see development of means to <a href="https://swfound.org/media/205400/weeden_adrandoos_dentons_oct2015.pdf">actively prevent collisions</a>, for example, by changing the orbit of space debris. That might be by another space object capturing and physically moving the space debris, or it could be done remotely, such as by a <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/research/program-4/">ground-based laser</a> using photon pressure.</p>
<h2>Australia is qualified</h2>
<p>While Australia <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/index.php">already</a> has an active space industry, it is thinly spread. Government departments and agencies, universities, contracted aerospace companies (mostly large and foreign), local start-ups (mostly small) and some established Australian companies, all currently make up Australia’s participation in the space industry. </p>
<p>The Space Industry Association of Australia presented a case for an Australian space agency in its March 2017 <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/prezi.php">White Paper</a>. From the current 0.8% share of a US$340 billion global space industry, the Australian space industry is forecast to grow to 4% within 20 years. That calculation assumes that the efforts of the Australian space industry can be coordinated and facilitated by an Australian space agency. </p>
<p>Now that an Australian space agency has <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">been announced</a>, a key focus of the national space agency will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-steps-australia-can-take-to-build-an-effective-space-agency-86617">coordinating what already exists</a>. </p>
<p>In respect of managing space traffic from Australia, here are some capabilities we already have. </p>
<p><strong>Tracking sensors.</strong> Australia has a growing number of sensors for tracking objects in space, including <a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/casg/NewsMedia/News/AustraliasSpaceSurveillanceRadarreachesFullOperationalCapability">C-Band radar</a>, <a href="http://www.jsforum.or.jp/stableuse/pdf/11_Group%20Captain%20Darren%20May.pdf">Space Surveillance Telescope</a> and <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/research/research-program-1/">space object laser tracking</a>. Australian companies such as <a href="https://saberastro.com/">Saber Astronautics</a> have been developing the means to “mine” the enormous amount of space-related data from radio astronomy sensors, notwithstanding that these were not originally designed with space traffic management in mind. </p>
<p><strong>Moving debris.</strong> The <a href="http://www.serc.org.au/research/">Space Environment Research Centre</a> is exploring how lasers for space object tracking based in Australia could be used for moving space debris at risk of colliding with active satellites. It also conducts other research to improve the quality of orbital predictions.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/trash-or-treasure-a-lot-of-space-debris-is-junk-but-some-is-precious-heritage-82832">Trash or treasure? A lot of space debris is junk, but some is precious heritage</a>
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<p><strong>Position reporting.</strong> The University of New South Wales has been conducting research into the use of <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/biarri-gps-receiver-project">satellite-based GPS receivers for position reporting</a> and research to better understand and predict the <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/space-research/research-themes/space-situational-awareness">orbital path of space debris</a>. Drawing on the air traffic management analogy, it is also developing a <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/space-research/research-themes/integrated-air-and-space-traffic-management-system">space traffic management system</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Australia’s reputation.</strong> Australia has a strong reputation in respect of <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/casas-role">air traffic management</a> and <a href="https://www.amsa.gov.au/search-and-rescue/australias-search-and-rescue-system/australia-srr/">search and rescue</a> – we provide these services for more than <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/airspace/landing-page/airspace-regulation">11%</a> of the Earth’s surface by ourselves.</p>
<p><strong>Historical and positive role in space.</strong> Australia has been active in the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/members/evolution.html">since its inception</a> in 1959. Australian initiatives are given serious consideration by the international community, without the political polarisation that our superpower ally, the USA, can draw. </p>
<p>Australia is therefore not only well suited to contribute to space traffic management in a physical sense, but also in a regulatory sense – including facilitating the establishment of an appropriate regulatory regime.</p>
<h2>Australia can benefit</h2>
<p>Both <a href="http://www.unidir.org/programmes/emerging-security-issues/annual-outer-space-security-conference/space-security-2017-celebrating-the-outer-space-treaty-50-years-of-space-governance-and-stability">myself</a> and <a href="http://ndupress.ndu.edu/JFQ/Joint-Force-Quarterly-87/Article/1325996/the-role-of-space-norms-in-protection-and-defense/">others</a> have advocated for the global strategic importance of normalising the space environment. This involves establishing regular and predictable patterns of behaviour through legal rules and less formal practices and procedures. It is also a matter of national strategic significance. </p>
<p>An international space regulator is almost certainly going to emerge in the next decade and is likely to have some sort of gatekeeper function, including ensuring safety and sustainability in space through effective space traffic management. </p>
<p>Whichever nations play an active part in this role stand to gain significant international influence, and also significant commercial opportunities. This is particularly important with the impending launches of <a href="http://spacenews.com/spacex-oneweb-detail-constellation-plans-to-congress/">mega-constellations</a> whose operating satellites must be protected. </p>
<p>Australia can and should have a key part in global space traffic management.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Blake is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia. He is also a consultant to International Aerospace Law and Policy Group, which has previously advocated for an Australian role in Space Traffic Management. </span></em></p>By taking on the role as leader in space traffic management, Australia can gain international power and exploit commercial opportunities.Duncan Blake, PhD candidate, law and military uses of outer space, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/866172017-11-01T22:23:27Z2017-11-01T22:23:27ZFive steps Australia can take to build an effective space agency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192577/original/file-20171031-18735-m9zs3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will it take to give Australia's space agency wings? Image from the opening ceremony at IAC2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassycanberra/37065599990/in/photolist-YMQ327-YtmTwN-YMQ1hq-YPnTMY-YtmTaf-YPnVt3-XQQHwg-XQQGZK-XMhKGS-XQQJQZ-YtmSLj-XMhMv1-XMhLSC-XQQL6V-YMQ3Ly-YPnW3Q-YMQ3hs-YMQ4gb">usembassycanberra/flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Senator Simon Birmingham’s September <a href="http://spacenews.com/australia-to-establish-national-space-agency/">declaration</a> that Australia would establish a space agency created a buzz across the space sector. </p>
<p>The announcement was unexpected. Few anticipated any government commitment until after Dr Megan Clark’s <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/sinodinos/media-releases/expert-review-australia%E2%80%99s-space-industry-capabilities-participate">expert panel</a> reported on Australia’s space industry capability in March 2018.</p>
<p>Establishing an agency is a sensible decision and rightly has <a href="http://www.senatorkimcarr.com/a_national_space_science_and_industry_agency_to_create_jobs">bipartisan support</a>. But the hard work in determining the shape of the agency has only just begun.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Yes, Australia will have a space agency. What does this mean? Experts respond</a>
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<p>In forming the new agency, <a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/09/what-experts-have-to-say-about-australias-space-agency/">much has already been said</a> about what it might do. But how the agency is set up will be just as important to success. </p>
<p>My five steps to an effective agency are: include both “new” and “old” space, give the agency actual power, make the most of the space “brain drain” and work cooperatively with the Department of Defence. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"912119868312260608"}"></div></p>
<h2>The new pathway to space</h2>
<p>The most startling recent evolution in space is that there is more money on the table. <a href="https://brycetech.com/downloads/Bryce_Start_Up_Space_2017.pdf">Venture capital funding</a> for space projects in each of 2015 and 2016 exceeded the total of all venture capital investments in space since 2000. </p>
<p>Australia has more than <a href="http://www.globalaccesspartners.org/Australian_Space_Initiative_GAP_Taskforce_Report_Aug2017.pdf">43 small businesses focused on</a> the space sector. This growth has been driven by a rapidly falling cost to participate in space activities. The cost and weight of satellites has plummeted as the technologies that deliver small, affordable smartphones found space applications. </p>
<p>Innovation, competition and ride-sharing on launch vehicles – think Elon Musk’s <a href="http://www.spacex.com/">Space X</a> and Auckland-based startup <a href="https://www.rocketlabusa.com/">Rocket Lab</a> – have reduced per-kilo prices to space, and costs will likely fall further.</p>
<p>In this rapidly changing environment, here are my five recommendations for space agency success. </p>
<h2>1. Grow the ‘new space’ market</h2>
<p>The “new space” market is characterised by projects focused on commercial return, particularly small satellites. This is a fast growing sector with <a href="http://www.deltavspacehub.com/#space20">existing companies</a> that can deliver Australian technology jobs and export revenue. </p>
<p>To make the most of this existing pool of potential, the agency should fund widely with small amounts, just enough to prove concepts or encourage commercial participation. It should draw on venture capital in assembling this portfolio, as the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Showcase/Innovation-fund">CSIRO</a> and the <a href="http://seraphimcapital.co.uk/focus">UK Space Agency</a> are doing. </p>
<h2>2. Do not neglect ‘old space’</h2>
<p>Despite the hype around small satellites and commercial space, Australia should not neglect altogether the “old space” of large, reliable and expensive satellites. These are still the mainstay of the industry, and the training ground from which many startups spring. </p>
<p>Precisely because the work proceeds more slowly, old space offers steady cash flow to complement the precarious financing arrangements of many of the new space businesses. New space companies that can also sell hardware or services to old space companies are particularly valuable. </p>
<p>The path here is clear: the agency should work closely with existing trade programs to help the Australian space industry break into global supply chains, in particular helping business navigate restrictive foreign export and labour laws. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192580/original/file-20171031-18704-1qdgkhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Images such as this one collected by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite can be used to detect bushfires in remote Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2016/bushfires-in-western-australia">NASA</a></span>
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<h2>3. Give the space agency ‘teeth’</h2>
<p>It is not enough for the agency to develop a paper vision for the Australian space sector; it needs the power to make it a reality. </p>
<p>Historically, Australia’s civilian space strategy has been <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Civil-space-coordination/Pages/default.aspx">fragmented</a> by a bureaucratic turf war across agencies including <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Astronomy">CSIRO</a>, the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/satellite/about_satellites.shtml">Bureau of Meteorology</a>, <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/earth-obs">Geoscience Australia</a> and the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/default.aspx">Department of Industry</a>.</p>
<p>Now state and territory governments are <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/act/northern-territory-joins-act-south-australia-in-space-lobby-efforts-20170924-gynmur.html">joining the fray</a>. South Australia recently launched a <a href="https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/09/21/state-govt-launches-space-industry-centre/">Space Industry Centre</a>, and in October Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Barr visited SpaceX and other aerospace giants on the US West Coast “<a href="http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2017/chief-minister-looks-to-continue-growth-of-cbr-space-industry">to discuss opportunities</a>”. </p>
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<p>Australia’s agency needs the authority to impose national strategic discipline. The government could give the agency undisputed policy authority, for example, by making it a small group within Prime Minister and Cabinet. Or the agency could be given purse-string power by allocating the civilian federal space budget through it rather than the existing patchwork of agencies. </p>
<p>Anything less will make the agency a contested and ineffective leader for the Australian space sector.</p>
<h2>4. Bring back home-grown talent</h2>
<p>There is a <a href="https://quokkaspace.wordpress.com/space-expats/">wealth</a> of Australians who have gone overseas to pursue space careers. Many were back home for September’s <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Astronautical Congress</a> in Adelaide, and were keen to contribute to the success of the agency. </p>
<p>The federal government should be flexible enough to include these dynamic individuals and accelerate the first years of the agency. For example, somebody like Christopher Boshuizen, the <a href="https://www.advance.org/christopher-boshuizen/">Australian co-founder</a> of <a href="https://www.planet.com/">space startup Planet</a> – on the path to “unicorn” US$1 billion <a href="https://brycetech.com/downloads/Bryce_Start_Up_Space_2017.pdf">valuation</a> – would be a great asset working on behalf of Australian space startups. </p>
<p>Such talent would kick-start the late-blooming agency with world-class credibility and instant connections to global activity. </p>
<h2>5. Work with Defence</h2>
<p>A civilian space agency needs to establish a relationship of mutual respect with the <a href="http://www.defence.gov.au/">Department of Defence</a> space sector, while each maintains primacy in its own sphere. </p>
<p>Defence has substantial space experience, both directly and through Australia’s US alliance. And investments in national security space dwarf civilian spend. For example, Defence recently <a href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/christopher-pyne/media-releases/500-million-enhanced-satellite-capability">announced</a> a decade-long program worth A$500 million to develop domestic satellite imagery capabilities. </p>
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<p>With the right relationship, Defence would increase access to the agility and innovation of the commercial sector and the civilian agency would benefit from the experience of Defence personnel.</p>
<p>As Senator Birmingham announced Australia’s plans to the world’s largest civilian space conference (September 2017’s <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Astronautical Congress</a>), he was speaking to many who have lived through Australia’s big talk on space. We’ve experienced <a href="http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=131406989">failed launch proposals</a> on Christmas Island and Cape York, and the rise and fall of the Hawke government’s “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9798/98cib12">Australian Space Office</a>”. </p>
<p>Birmingham made an announcement on the biggest possible stage. The “how” will be as important as the “what” if we are to make good this time on high expectations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Wicht is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Centre for a New American Security.
The Alliance 21 program receives funding from the Australian Government and industry. </span></em></p>The excitement over the announcement of a space agency for Australia has now quietened. So it’s time to work out what we want, and how to get there.Anthony Wicht, Alliance 21 Fellow (Space) at the United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/850172017-10-03T14:48:01Z2017-10-03T14:48:01ZSixty years after Sputnik: taking stock and looking to the future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188362/original/file-20171002-3124-17qxe3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A girl takes a close look at the world's first artificial
satellite, the Soviet-made Sputnik I.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">China Photos/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been 60 years since the Soviet Union fired the first salvo of the space age. On October 4 1957 it launched <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_924.html">Sputnik</a>, the world’s first satellite, as its contribution to <a href="http://www.nas.edu/history/igy/">International Geophysical Year</a>.</p>
<p>It was the first of a series of superpower spectaculars, each bringing <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1148580?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">soft power</a> – the term political scientists use to describe states doing something benign which boosts their prestige. The USSR followed Sputnik’s launch by sending <a href="https://www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html">Yuri Gagarin</a>, the world’s first cosmonaut, into space on 12 April 1961. He was followed by <a href="https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/tereshkova.html">Valentina Tereshkova</a>, the first woman to orbit the Earth, on 16 June 1963. The US landed 12 Americans on the moon between 1969 and 1972.</p>
<p>A great deal has changed in the past 60 years. Sputnik <a href="https://www.space.com/17563-sputnik.html">weighed 83kgs</a>. The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a> weighs 419 tons, carrying a crew of six astronauts, performing a variety of experiments in microgravity. Many countries have their own <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1990MNSSA..49..174G">space policies</a> and space science has developed all over the world including <a href="http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/Ngcofe%20-%20commentary_DOI.pdf">in Africa</a>.</p>
<p>Our fascination with space – whether it focuses on colonising distant planets, using satellites for profit or educational purposes, or unpacking complex weather patterns – shows no signs of slowing down.</p>
<h2>Many uses for satellites</h2>
<p>Today satellite applications are woven into the fabric of everyday life. </p>
<p>Soon after Sputnik’s launch, the military realised that spacecraft would be great for reconnaissance – <a href="https://www.airspacemag.com/space/spysats-for-everyone-299492/">spysats</a>. These are now commonplace.</p>
<p>Satellites have offered great benefits for ordinary people, too. Civilians now depend on spacecraft to get <a href="https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/index.html">weather forecasts</a>. </p>
<p>Satellites have also changed how we see the world around us, quite literally. The corporate world entered space when <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1964-047A">Syncom 3</a> caused a sensation with its live broadcasts of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Before that, your grandparents waited three weeks for newsreels to be flown to Hollywood to have the film developed, duplicated, then flown to cinemas around the world.</p>
<p>Digital processing of images and other data now constitute the most lucrative ground segment of the space industry; that is, jobs on the ground, not in orbit. The information from this processing also helps with disaster recovery: authorities can ascertain the extent of hurricane, flood or fire damage; they can also see where roads are blocked by mudslides.</p>
<p>Satellite farming is another valuable tool. It comprises satellites which send SMSes to subscribers alerting them to which orchards are too dry and any that are too wet, so they may adjust their irrigation. And satellites allow us to peer back into the distant past. Archaeologists have used satellite imagery to locate <a href="https://ideas.ted.com/gallery-archaeological-mysteries-hidden-in-satellite-images/">ancient towns</a> buried beneath sand dunes and tropical forests. </p>
<h2>Developing countries</h2>
<p>Some developing countries have also harnessed the power of satellites. India led the way in demonstrating a space programme relevant to developing countries. Its <a href="http://www.isro.gov.in/category-spacecraft/edusat">EDUSAT</a> broadcasts televised maths lessons to more than 11 000 rural schools and colleges across the country. Under-qualified teachers are able to learn alongside their schoolchildren. </p>
<p>It would be good for South Africa – and other African countries with poor science and maths results – to put its most charismatic teachers in those subjects in front of TV cameras, and stream them into classrooms across a country. </p>
<p>African countries could adopt another Indian satellite initiative, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782224/">telemedicine</a>. Using video conferencing, a nurse examines a patient under a specialist’s guidance, enabling her to diagnose, and prescribe medicine.</p>
<p>South Africa was an early adopter of satellite vehicle tracking, to combat hijacking. Today two pan African television companies, DSTV and Multichoice, are big business. The South African space industry employs several hundred people. Most manufacture satellite components for export from the Western Cape towns of Somerset West and Stellenbosch. </p>
<p>Others staff the huge Hartebeespoort ground station, downloading and uploading; under contract to foreign space agencies and aerospace corporations. This falls under the <a href="http://www.sansa.org.za/">South African National Space Agency</a>.</p>
<p>Another space agency facility is the Space Weather Centre in Hermanus, in the Western Cape province. Its scientists monitor changes in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar flares and solar storms. Violent fluctuations can blow up transformers in sub-stations, and damage power utility Eskom’s grid.</p>
<p>Stellenbosch University electronic engineering students built South Africa’s first satellite, <a href="https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/s/sunsat">Sunsat</a>, launched in 1999. Their spinoff company, Sunspace, built the country’s second satellite, Sumbandila. Students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology were responsible for developing the third satellite, the cubesat <a href="https://theconversation.com/cool-cubes-are-changing-the-way-we-play-in-space-41621">Tshepiso</a>. South Africa’s first satellite was launched by the US and the other two by the Russians.</p>
<p>Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, and Nigeria are among other African countries who have paid space powers to launch one or more satellites for them. South Africa negotiated the <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2008AfrSk..12...53M">African Resources Monitoring Constellation</a>, for each to share data with the others.</p>
<h2>What of the future?</h2>
<p>There’s much more to come.</p>
<p>Elon Musk’s <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/elon-musk-publishes-plans-for-colonizing-mars/">proposals</a> to build a town the size of Oudtshoorn (a small city in South Africa) on Mars every 26 months have grabbed the headlines.</p>
<p>Without headlines and much fanfare, meanwhile, one <a href="http://www.aesihyd.com/hypersonic_conference/contents/Proceeding_June_2007.pdf">Indian research programme</a> completed the number-crunching, concept calculations for a spaceplane which could take off and land on runways, but also reach orbit. They named it Hyperplane, with a smaller technology demonstrator called Avatar. </p>
<p>Hyperplane would make an ideal project to be partnered by countries in either the IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) or BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) alliances.</p>
<p>South Africa has niche aerospace capabilities in avionics, hi-tech composite materials, and sensors. The <a href="http://www.denelotr.co.za/">Overberg Test Range</a>, with its embedded Air Force Test Flight Development Centre, is ideal for the test programme of what would be 25 and 100 ton drones.</p>
<p>Brazil’s <a href="http://embraer.com/">Embraer</a>, the world’s third largest aircraft manufacturer, can clearly be drawn in, while Russia, India, and China have all the research and development capabilities needed. Brazil, India, and China can also provide all the capital needed.</p>
<p>Now it’s over to farsighted diplomats and those on the relevant parliamentary committees to revive and complete this Indian project – and give Elon Musk a run for his money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Gottschalk serves on the executive of the SA Space Association, but writes this article in his individual capacity.</span></em></p>Our fascination with space shows no signs of slowing down, 60 years after the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite, Sputnik.Keith Gottschalk, Political Scientist, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/845882017-09-25T05:31:57Z2017-09-25T05:31:57ZYes, Australia will have a space agency. What does this mean? Experts respond<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187316/original/file-20170925-18322-1m9wj6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A space agency will allow Australia to sit at the table with NASA, ESA and other global agencies. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/extremely-detailed-realistic-high-resolution-3d-442682455?src=FFRSlzGblmX6NM7mH4NDKw-1-0">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In front of an expectant audience of more than 4,000 international delegates attending the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Aeronautical Congress</a> in Adelaide, today <a href="https://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/">Senator Simon Birmingham</a> - representing Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=bv7">Arthur Sinodinos</a> – announced Australia’s federal government is committed to a space agency.</em> </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"912119868312260608"}"></div></p>
<p><em>Although details on timelines, funding and practicalities are yet to be described, here three experts address the question of how an Australian space agency will support the sector.</em></p>
<hr>
<h3>Andrew Dempster (Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research UNSW)</h3>
<p>This announcement has the potential to be monumental, and great reward for people (including me) who have fought for an agency for many years. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the announcement preempts the report of the government’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">Review of Australia’s Space Industry Capability</a>, which is due in March. The roundtable events in support of this review have resoundingly supported establishment of an agency, with most of the effort <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-one-small-step-for-australias-space-industry-when-a-giant-leap-is-needed-81100">dedicated to its role and structure</a>.</p>
<p>We are still awaiting detail of how such an agency would look. What is critical is that the agency is not simply a replica of the earlier Space Policy Unit, and Space Coordination Office. These were small offices primarily focused on policy and the workings of government.</p>
<p>The real opportunity an agency offers is the growth of the local industry to the point where it is sustainable and can deliver big projects – <a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-murray-darling-water-theft-a-space-agency-can-help-australia-manage-federal-resources-83727">Australian solutions to Australian problems</a>: i.e. it is about Australian sovereignty. </p>
<p>To be successful in that regard, commitment to a space agency cannot be halfhearted. It must be resourced with the right quality and quantity of people to deliver a vibrant Australian industry. </p>
<p>Once that is achieved, and the benefits become obvious, we’ll all be asking why we didn’t do it decades ago. </p>
<hr>
<h3>Graziella Caprarelli (Associate Professor in space science, UniSA)</h3>
<p>Details about the structure and brief of the announced future National Space Agency are not known at present. Ideally, an Australian space agency should oversee the coordination and development of the entire space supply chain.</p>
<p>Right now, the quality and impact of Australian space research is demonstrably well above the size of its scientific and aerospace engineering community. This fertile scientific and technological environment has encouraged many young startups revolving around space technology and space data. </p>
<p>Access to space is therefore crucial to ensure the sustainable growth of this nascent industry. This can only happen under the purview of a dedicated Australian agency, tasked with the coordination of all civilian space related activities in the country, with the delegation to allocate and distribute resources, and to represent and facilitate Australian interests internationally. </p>
<p>The present focus is on the many possibilities of economic growth and industrial development. But the long-term sustainability of a space industry in Australia will critically depend on the availability of local talent, steady supply of expertise, and the manufacturing and technical skills required to bring Australia to space. </p>
<p>This requires strong and continued support for STEM education, investment in space science and technology, research and training. An Australian space agency would therefore be responsible for all space-related activities. </p>
<p>There may be concerns that such portfolio may require the institution of a new giant bureaucracy. This need not be so, if the future agency is structured in a way that captures the expertise of the many groups and individuals already working in space-related fields all over Australia. </p>
<hr>
<h3>Duncan Blake, PhD candidate (Law and military uses of outer space, University of Adelaide)</h3>
<p>This announcement is exciting not just for Australian space industry, but also for future generations in Australia and for the global space industry. <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/contact.php">Michael Davis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brett-biddington-7151">Brett Biddington</a> and others – who are responsible for bringing the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Aeronautical Congress</a> to Australia – have shown that industry can and will lead. </p>
<p>Australia rates <a href="https://www.science.org.au/news-and-events/events/public-speaker-series/dawn-new-space-age/australian-satellites-and-where-find">very highly in space startups per capita</a>: these are not big, multinational companies, but small enterprises making an disproportionate contribution in niche areas. </p>
<p>The Australian space agency will have a regulatory role, obviously, but it needs to do what the industry can’t do for itself. It needs to represent the Australian people at home and abroad, it needs to pursue Australia’s interests in global space governance bodies, it needs to not only help seize opportunities for Australia but actually create opportunities and it needs to be a focal point internally and externally. </p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, it needs to facilitate collaboration by the many government agencies, plus the academic, research and other civil institutions and the growing number of commercial enterprises involved in space in Australia. </p>
<p>It also needs a strategy that identifies some enduring, national “beacon” projects to muster the immense energy in the Australian space industry right now and which will herald our place in space. This, and more, is what we hope to hear about in the next few days, or at most, months.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Blake is a member of the Space Industry Association of Australia and provides consultancy services in space law and strategy for International Aerospace Law and Policy Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graziella Caprarelli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s space sector responded positively to today’s federal government commitment to a space agency. Our experts explain what must come next.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyDuncan Blake, PhD candidate, law and military uses of outer space, University of AdelaideGraziella Caprarelli, Associate Professor in Space Science, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829852017-09-20T20:33:49Z2017-09-20T20:33:49ZAustralia relies on data from Earth observation satellites, but our access is high risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186693/original/file-20170920-22691-bkgy2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The NASA satellite Landsat-8 collects frequent global multispectral imagery of the Earth’s surface. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/missions/earth/LDCM.html">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series <strong>Australia’s place in space</strong>, where we’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses, along with the past, present and the future of Australia’s space presence and activities.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Rockets, astronomy and humans on Mars: there’s a lot of <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">excited talk</a> about space and what new discoveries might come if Australia’s federal government commits to <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">expanding Australia’s space industry</a>. </p>
<p>But one space industry is often left out of the conversation: Earth observation (EO). </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-for-australia-to-launch-its-own-space-agency-72735">Why it’s time for Australia to launch its own space agency</a></em> </p>
<hr>
<p>EO refers to the collection of information about Earth, and delivery of useful data for human activities. For Australia, the minimum economic impact of EO from space-borne sensors alone is approximately <a href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/aeocp-the-plan/">A$5.3 billion each year</a>. </p>
<p>And yet <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Publications/Pages/Australias-Satellite-Utilisation-Policy.aspx">the default position of our government</a> seems to be that the provision of EO resources will come from other countries’ investments, or commercial partners. </p>
<p>This means the extensive Commonwealth-state-local <a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Program-2/The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-ACIL-Allen-FINAL-20151207.pdf">government and industry reliance</a> on access to EO services remains <a href="https://theconversation.com/security-and-space-australias-free-ride-is-coming-to-an-end-9918">a high-risk</a>.</p>
<h2>What is EO (Earth observation)?</h2>
<p>You’ve almost certainly relied on EO at some point already today.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186702/original/file-20170920-20014-7kjl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wide range of government, industry and societal uses of Earth observation in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Plan 2026</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>EO describes the activities used to gather data about the Earth from satellites, aircraft, remotely piloted systems and other platforms. It delivers information for our daily weather and oceanographic forecasts, disaster management systems, water and power supply, infrastructure monitoring, mining, agricultural production, environmental monitoring and more.</p>
<p>Global positioning and navigation, communications and information derived from satellites looking at, and away from Earth are referred to as “<a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Resources/CRCSI-The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-Final-web.pdf">downstream</a>” space activities. </p>
<p>“Upstream” activities are the industries building infrastructure (satellites, sensors), launch vehicles and ground facilities for operating space-based equipment. <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/Paper%20FINAL-5.pdf">In this arena</a>, countries such as Russia focus on building, launching and operating satellites and space craft. Others (such as Canada, Italy, UK) target developing industries and government activities that use these services. The US and China maintain a balance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=128&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186703/original/file-20170920-20018-1a7akv2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=160&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Components of Australia’s Earth-observation space capabilities (click to zoom for a clearer view)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/">Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Plan 2026</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia spends very little on space</h2>
<p>Although we rely so heavily on downstream space activities in our economic and other operations, Australia invests very little in space: only 0.003% of GDP, according to 2014 figures. </p>
<p><iframe id="7fXSG" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/7fXSG/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Other countries have taken very proactive roles in enabling these industries to develop. Most government space agencies around the world invest 11% to 51% of their funds for developing EO capacity. These investments allow industries and government to build downstream applications and services from secure 24/7 satellite data streams.</p>
<p><iframe id="P3Fis" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/P3Fis/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Historically, Australia has invested heavily in research and research infrastructure to produce world leading capabilities in the science of <a href="http://www.ska.gov.au">astronomy</a>, <a href="http://www.serc.org.au">space-debris</a> <a href="http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov">tracking and space exploration communications</a>. </p>
<p>In EO there are no comparable national programs or infrastructure, nor have we contributed to international capability at the same levels as these areas. This seems strange given:</p>
<ul>
<li>our world leading status in applied research and extensive government use of these data as fully operational essential and critical information streams</li>
<li>all of the reports requesting increases in <a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/Documents/SIAA%20White%20Paper%20-%20Advancing%20Australia%20in%20Space.pdf">government support and enabling for “space” industry</a> cite our reliance on EO as essential, but then don’t present paths forward for it</li>
<li>there are now a number of well established and growing small companies focused on delivering essential environmental, agricultural, grazing, energy supply and infrastructure monitoring services using EO, and </li>
<li>we have a well organised EO community across research, industry and government, with <a href="http://www.aeoccg.org.au/aeocp-the-plan">a clearly articulated national strategic plan to 2026</a>. </li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184667/original/file-20170905-28041-28wxaw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of an information delivery service built from Earth observation data streams to deliver property level information to graziers and others land-holders (click to zoom for a clearer view).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">P Tickle, FarmMap4D</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building Australia’s EO capacity</h2>
<p>EO plays a vital role in many aspects of Australian life. Australia’s state and Commonwealth agencies, along with research institutions and industry have already built essential tools to routinely deliver satellite images in a form that can be developed further by private industry and delivered as services. </p>
<p>But our lack of a coordinating space agency adds a layer of fragility to vital EO operations as they currently stand.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-world-embraces-space-the-50-year-old-outer-space-treaty-needs-adaptation-79833">As the world embraces space, the 50 year old Outer Space Treaty needs adaptation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This places a very large amount of Commonwealth, state and local government activity, economic activity and essential infrastructure at risk, as <a href="http://www.crcsi.com.au/assets/Resources/CRCSI-The-Value-of-Earth-Observations-from-Space-to-Australia-Final-web.pdf">multiple recent national reviews have noted</a>.</p>
<p>Our federal government started to address the problem with its <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Publications/Pages/Australias-Satellite-Utilisation-Policy.aspx">2013 Satellites Utilisation Policy</a>, and will hopefully build on this following the current rounds of extensive consultation for the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.asp">Space Industry Capability Review</a>. </p>
<p>Although our private EO upstream and downstream industry capabilities are currently small, they are world leading, and if they were enabled with government-industry support in a way that the <a href="http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/Default.asp">Canadian Space Agency</a>, the <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a>/<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en">European Commission</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-space-agency">UK Space Agency</a> do, we could build this sector. </p>
<p>If Australia is to realistically participate in the “Space 2.0” economy, we need to act now and set clear goals for the next five, ten and 20 years. EO can be a pillar for this activity, enabling significant expansion of our upstream and downstream industries. This generates jobs and growth and addresses national security concerns. </p>
<p>That should be a win for all sectors in Australia – and we can finally give back and participate globally in space.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Data sources for figure “Proportion of space budget spent on different capacities”: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fy_2017_budget_mission_directorate_fact_sheets.pdf">NASA</a>; ESA - <a href="http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/01/ESA_budget_2017_by_domain">here</a> and <a href="http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/Annual-Report-2015/">here</a>; <a href="http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/">JAXA</a>; PDF report on <a href="http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9783319194721-c1.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1513274-p177396349">China</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Phinn receives funding from the Australian Government, Australian Research Council, Cooperative Research Centre Program, and is Chair of the Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Group.</span></em></p>Weather forecasting, bushfire management, power and water supply: Australia relies on earth observations to the tune of A$5 billion a year. But we have very little control over the data we get.Stuart Phinn, Professor of Geography, Director - Remote Sensing Research Centre, Chair - Australian Earth Observation Community Coordination Group, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/837272017-09-19T19:41:07Z2017-09-19T19:41:07ZPreventing Murray-Darling water theft: a space agency can help Australia manage federal resources<p><em>This is the first article in the series <strong>Australia’s place in space,</strong> where we’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses, along with the past, present and the future of Australia’s space presence and activities.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>An independent report into allegations of water theft and corruption in the Murray-Darling Basin has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-11/damning-report-on-alleged-corruption-by-nsw-water-official/8892208">recommended fundamental reforms to the system</a>.</p>
<p>Solutions suggested in the report focus on the state of New South Wales, and involve metered pumps and public access to information. Others have proposed a space-based solution: wide application of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/tax-returns-for-water-satellite-audited-statements-can-save-the-murray-darling-81833">random audits</a>” of water meters by an independent monitoring system: satellites.</p>
<p>But what if we went further. Forget the random audits – why not use satellites to monitor everywhere in the Murray-Darling Basin, all the time? </p>
<p>It’s another argument supporting Australia’s need of a space agency. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-murray-darling-basin-plan-broken-81613">Is the Murray-Darling Basin Plan broken?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian solutions to Australian problems</h2>
<p>Among the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-reasons-why-australia-urgently-needs-a-space-agency-16386">many arguments</a> in favour of Australia having its own space agency, the use of satellites to collect local data to solve local problems is a vital one. </p>
<p>Under the Australian Space Research Program (the ASRP, which ended in 2013), my colleagues and I developed a design for a pair of Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites that would map soil moisture for all of Australia, every 3 days, to a resolution of 10 metres. We called it “<a href="http://www.garada.unsw.edu.au/">Garada</a>”. This system could readily detect overuse of water of the type noted in the Murray Ddarling Basin, as it was occurring. </p>
<p>Our report was delivered to the Space Policy Unit (which later became the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/australia-launches-first-national-space-coordination-office/news-story/22baa9a891df47315edc99f7e212e871">Space Coordination Office</a>), and then the idea stopped dead. There was no mechanism within the public sphere to advance the project: it fell into the hole where a space agency should have been. </p>
<p>The Garada satellites are big and expensive, not exactly the <a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-space-what-the-uk-space-agency-can-teach-australia-28559">low-cost</a>, “Space 2.0”-focused solutions where most of Australia’s opportunities lie (such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-back-in-the-satellite-business-with-a-new-launch-76090">small satellites</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-one-small-step-for-australias-space-industry-when-a-giant-leap-is-needed-81100">startup companies</a>).</p>
<p>However, when we did the study, we <a href="http://www.garada.unsw.edu.au/Final%20Report/Garada%20Final%20Report%20-%20Volume%20II%20-%20V03_00.pdf">showed</a> how the satellite system could be viable if it was considered to be infrastructure. We showed that despite a hefty price tag of A$800 million, the satellite would pay for itself if:</p>
<ul>
<li>its data led to an increase of 0.35% in GDP for non irrigated agriculture, or </li>
<li>its data led to a decrease of 7% of irrigation infrastructure, or </li>
<li>it was able to save 1% of Murray-Darling water flows. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-reasons-why-australia-urgently-needs-a-space-agency-16386">Ten reasons why Australia urgently needs a space agency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In a practical sense, the space agency, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-space-what-the-uk-space-agency-can-teach-australia-28559">needn’t have a big budget</a> itself, wouldn’t have to pay for such a satellite; it just needs a seat at the infrastructure table and compare benefit-to-cost ratios with other projects such as roads and railways. In my opinion, one part of the agency’s role, should it exist, is to make sure infrastructure such as this is considered.</p>
<p>Another important thing to acknowledge here is that both the problem and solution here are federal, with multiple states as stakeholders. An agency that functions to solve problems of this type is not consistent with the sort of “go it alone” approach recently put forward by the <a href="https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/index.php/jay-weatherill-news-releases/7921-joint-effort-by-sa-and-act-to-launch-national-space-agency">ACT and South Australia</a>.</p>
<h2>Satellites forge ahead</h2>
<p>Even without a space agency, recent years have started to see satellites used to solve Australia-specific problems. The NBN “<a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/network-technology/sky-muster-explained/satellite.html">Skymuster</a>” satellites deliver broadband to remote areas where fibre and wireless solutions were impractical. But they were 100% imported – not an Australian solution.</p>
<p>Start-up <a href="http://www.fleet.space/about/">Fleet</a> in Adelaide has recently received first-round funding to deliver internet of things services to remote areas from a constellation of cubesats. This may have been achieved against the odds without a local ecosystem, but the company’s official stance is “<a href="http://www.fleet.space/open-letter/">Australia can no longer afford not to have a space agency</a>”. A number of other start-ups are also starting to gain traction.</p>
<p>Australian universities have been successful in launching and operating cubesats in the <a href="https://www.qb50.eu/">QB50</a> constellation, such as our own <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/QB50">UNSW-EC0</a>. These are the first Australian-built satellites to be launched in 15 years. My own group has also delivered GPS receivers as payloads on Defence missions <a href="https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/news/2017/04/20/biarri-satellite-heads-space">Biarri</a> and <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/miniature-spacecraft-australian-defence-innovation-ready-fly">Buccaneer</a>.</p>
<h2>Australia not at the space table</h2>
<p>The world’s largest space conference, the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">International Astronautical Congress</a> is to be held in Adelaide, September 25-29 2017. </p>
<p>When members of the global space community - <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, the <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a>, the <a href="https://www.space.com/22743-china-national-space-administration.html">Chinese National Space Agency</a>, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-space-agency">UK Space Agency</a>, and others – meet at the congress to make decisions on missions, strategy, collaborations and other global directions in space, Australia will not be at the table, because we do not have a space agency. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-world-embraces-space-the-50-year-old-outer-space-treaty-needs-adaptation-79833">As the world embraces space, the 50 year old Outer Space Treaty needs adaptation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The more general <a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-space-what-the-uk-space-agency-can-teach-australia-28559">commercial</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-for-australia-to-launch-its-own-space-agency-72735">scientific</a> implications related to this have been well outlined. What I have tried to highlight here is simply one example of a possible great many: there are local, practical implications linked to failed advancement of an infrastructure project that relies on expertise in space.</p>
<p>Submissions to the Federal Government’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian-Space-Industry-Capability.aspx">Review of Australia’s Space Industry Capability</a> closed in August, with many in the industry <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-one-small-step-for-australias-space-industry-when-a-giant-leap-is-needed-81100">hoping</a> that its report in March 2018 will recommend an Australian space agency.</p>
<p>The benefits can be broader than most Australians realise - we need to imagine better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster works for UNSW. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>There are local, practical implications linked to failed advancement of infrastructure projects that rely on expertise in space. Protecting Australia’s water is just one example.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.