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.
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.
136319147@N08/flickr
Space is becoming cheaper, more attractive to investors and increasingly important in our data-rich economy. It’s time Australia mapped a path forward.
Medical data from space tourists will be fascinating, but is it ethical?
Rick Guidice/NASA
Space terrorism and testing of space tourists are theoretical problems today. But let’s have conversations right now to make sure they don’t become real problems in the future.
NovaSAR-S will image Earth in all weather conditions, both day and night (computer generated image).
SSTL
Australia will be able to guide the Earth observation satellite “NovaSAR” as it passes over our region - giving us a new level of control over the data we need to solve local problems.
A space agency will allow Australia to sit at the table with NASA, ESA and other global agencies.
from www.shutterstock.com
Australia was a significant global space player during the 1950s and 1960s. Now we’re one of only two OECD countries not to have a space agency. What happened?
The NASA satellite Landsat-8 collects frequent global multispectral imagery of the Earth’s surface.
NASA
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.
Space isn’t just about rockets and missions to Mars: Australia must invest in space-based infrastructure to manage our resources.
David Moir/AAP
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.
Soaring above Western Australia: we need a new approach to get more of a share in the global space industry.
Flickr/NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Australia has had an active civil space program since 1947 but has much to learn if it is to capture a bigger share of growing billion dollar global space industry. The potential size and scope of the…
We’ve seen Australia from space. Now let’s see it in space.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
India’s recent launch of a mission to Mars should cause us to contemplate Australia’s potential role, or lack of one, in such ventures. We presume India mounted this project at amazing speed to give China…
Measuring and monitoring Australia’s fresh water will become increasingly important.
EADS Astrium
Does Australia need space capabilities? Well, as Senator Kate Lundy said this month when announcing the government’s new space policy: “Australians, whether they know it or not, rely on satellites every…
Space touches all of us – but how can we stay in touch with space?
The iconoclastic yet iconic ionic icon
Almost every aspect of our lives is in some way touched by space science and technology. As such, the public policy implications are many and varied. Services provided via space-based technologies are…
A satellite picture of Cyclone Yasi from the Japanese weather satellite MTSAT 1R.
German Meteorological Society/DPA
Australia’s Chief Scientist Ian Chubb has more than once described the Australia of the past as a “mendicant country” regarding science. While this is a controversial, perhaps overly-broad, generalisation…
New infrastructure is putting the Australian space industry on the map.
RSAA
Space exploration is one of the few science-rich human endeavours that captivates both expert and layperson alike. There is a mystery – a romanticism – associated with space research and technology that…