tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/australia-in-space-2025/articlesAustralia in space – The Conversation2018-05-14T20:14:24Ztag: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>
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<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>
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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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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/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>
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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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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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">
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<span class="caption">A recent rocket launch from Woomera, South Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Image Gallery</span></span>
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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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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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<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>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collecting-satellite-data-australia-wants-a-new-direction-for-earth-observation-84678">Collecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<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>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oMSctD2PNaI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Canadarm played an important role in Canada-USA relations.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<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/846182017-09-27T20:02:03Z2017-09-27T20:02:03ZFrom tourism to terrorists, fast-moving space industries create new ethical challenges<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187502/original/file-20170926-17379-1tb7i52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medical data from space tourists will be fascinating, but is it ethical? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2004/moon/moon_images.html">Rick Guidice/NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s an exciting time to be working in the space sector - particularly with Australia’s recently-announced commitment to developing a <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">space agency</a>. </p>
<p>But with advances come new challenges. Similar to technologies such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/downside-of-fitness-trackers-and-health-apps-is-loss-of-privacy-69870">digital communications</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-researchers-must-learn-ethics-82754">robotics</a>, advances in space science bring ethical dilemmas. What rights do space tourists have? How can we prevent space terrorism? Who should regulate space activities? </p>
<p>Now is the time to turn the spotlight on concerns about the operations of new and future stakeholders in space. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-researchers-must-learn-ethics-82754">Artificial intelligence researchers must learn ethics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A shift in access</h2>
<p>In the not-too-distant-past, operations in space were only available to the world’s superpowers: in particular the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">USA and Russia</a>. We’ve seen the number of countries with space programs slowly increase over the years.</p>
<p>In recent times the cost of operating in space has dramatically decreased, allowing a large number of countries, and even some private companies, to become involved in space operations on a serious scale. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the increase in the number of players operating in space brings with it new problems. One issue is that some newcomers might use their new-found abilities in problematic ways, such as space terrorism. </p>
<p>Another is linked to the fact that some of these new space ventures – such as <a href="http://www.virgingalactic.com/">Virgin Galactic</a>, <a href="http://www.spacex.com/">Space X</a> and <a href="http://www.spaceadventures.com/">Space Adventures</a> – are working to create opportunities never seen before, by allowing ordinary people to become space tourists. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BZdZdSZAtQf/?hl=en","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Space tourists</h2>
<p>We currently do not know what rights space tourists will have. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly they will be exceedingly rich members of our society, as only a very small proportion of the population is likely to be able to afford space travel as a destination in the foreseeable future. However, just because a person is rich does not make them immune to the dangers of space travel. </p>
<p>The risky nature of the launch and re-entry are perhaps the most easily identifiable concerns. However, there are other issues which are not immediately obvious. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/stronger-faster-and-more-deadly-the-ethics-of-developing-supersoldiers-71086">The ethics of developing supersoldiers</a></em> </p>
<hr>
<p>For example, the physical and mental health of astronauts is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1025.html">assessed very thoroughly</a> during and after space travel. Scientifically it would make sense to extend such monitoring to space tourists, since this will eventually increase the data set considerably.</p>
<p>But can space tourists truly give valid informed consent to such activities? It’s difficult to fully anticipate the long-term effects of space travel, let alone the effects of any medical experimentation that might go alongside it.</p>
<p>This may be a particular concern if becoming a space tourist is made conditional on giving consent to such monitoring, since in such cases the consent would, at the very least, appear to be coerced.</p>
<h2>Space terrorism</h2>
<p>A larger concern to the wider community is the prospect of space terrorism. </p>
<p>Rogue states (and at some point in the future, even non-state groups such as ISIS) could potentially make large political statements through space. </p>
<p>An electromagentic pulse (<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-advised-ncis-la-on-e-bombs-but-theyre-not-a-work-of-fiction-5095">EMP</a>) terrorist attack on a satellite could leave it “dead” in orbit indefinitely. Or, a large debris field could be created through an explosion in space, making a whole range of orbits unusable for both civilian and military purposes for years to come. </p>
<p>The effect of either of these events could be to cripple communication and navigation worldwide, with flow-on effects felt in financial markets, hospitals, transportation, food distribution and many elements of everyday life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-some-acts-are-classified-as-terrorism-but-others-arent-76013">Explainer: why some acts are classified as terrorism but others aren't</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Efforts to stop terrestrial terrorism involve <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-authorities-are-doing-all-they-can-to-combat-terrorism-78989">multi-agency and multi-disciplinary approaches</a> through the intelligence and justice systems. </p>
<p>These approaches revolve around intelligence gathering to identify and prevent terrorist attacks, as well as limiting access to raw materials that might be used to effect large numbers of people (force multipliers), such as bomb making materials, bio-weapon ingredients and nuclear weapon components. These approaches have been effective in limiting the amount of damage terrorists are able to inflict, and so reduce the effect of terrorist actions. </p>
<p>The impact of space terrorist actions by rogue states and non-state actors can plausibly be limited by similar approaches, largely through the diplomatic and intelligence community. </p>
<p>A second approach might be to regulate those few countries and companies that have launch capabilities. However, as we have seen in recent times, engaging in diplomatic negotiations to try to limit the actions of states like <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-it-launches-another-missile-we-must-realise-there-are-no-easy-options-for-dealing-with-north-korea-83139">North Korea</a> and Iran is certainly no easy task.</p>
<p>It is important that we start discussing the ethical concerns raised by the entry of new stakeholders into the space community. It is vital that decisions we make now foster innovation, while also mitigating the risks of the dramatic increase in space operations.</p>
<p>This will allow us to ensure that theoretical problems of the present do not become insurmountable, real problems in the future. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on a paper presented at the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">68th International Astronautical Congress</a> taking place this week in Adelaide, South Australia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nikki Coleman 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>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.Nikki Coleman, Military Space Bioethicist, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/846782017-09-26T03:03:22Z2017-09-26T03:03:22ZCollecting satellite data Australia wants: a new direction for Earth observation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187464/original/file-20170925-4607-jh1jba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NovaSAR-S will image Earth in all weather conditions, both day and night (computer generated image). </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SSTL</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia – for the first time - will soon have the power to task an Earth imaging satellite in orbit. We’ll be able to collect imagery where we need it, and downlink the data directly into Australian ground stations.</p>
<p>CSIRO, under an agreement with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (<a href="https://www.sstl.co.uk/">SSTL</a>), has secured a 10% share of “tasking and acquisition” time on the <a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR satellite</a>, due for launch later this year.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">Australia relies on data from Earth observation satellites, but our access is high risk</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For the next seven years, Australia will have priority in directing the satellite to collect imagery every time it passes over our region. We will also be able to downlink the data for our own use, to an Australian receiving station, and share it with our research partners.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/234767674" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Collecting data over Australia, for Australian uses.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This will be a valuable asset for Australian scientists. We will learn how best to operate such a space capability to our own advantage, plus we will develop new time-critical downstream uses for the data. These include supporting large-scale disaster response efforts, and other major events where fast access to data is vital for effective decision-making. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR</a> will be operated in parallel with CSIRO’s other national facilities, such as the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/Marine-National-Facility/RV-Investigator">RV Investigator marine research vessel</a> and the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF">Australia Telescope National Facility</a> – but in space.</p>
<h2>All-seeing satellite</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.sstl.co.uk/Products/SSTL-Platforms-range">NovaSAR</a> is a brand new satellite. It can image Earth in all weather conditions, both day and night, using S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (or SAR), providing high quality radar images of Earth of between 6m to 30m spatial resolution.</p>
<p>This dual capability is especially useful for land, coastal and marine mapping applications in cloudy tropical areas. It provides us with the ability to track the presence and movement of shipping in our regional waters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187493/original/file-20170926-19571-13b434p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Testing of NovaSAR at Airbus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Airbus Defence and Space</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/radar/about/what_is_radar.shtml">Radar</a> was invented in the mid-20th century. While initially restricted to the military, it’s now applied for many civilian uses. </p>
<p>Circulating Earth at an altitude of about 600km, NovaSAR will generate radio microwaves and measure the strength of their return (that is, how they bounce back from the Earth’s surface). This will enable it to build an image of objects and structures at ground level.</p>
<p>The main advantage of this new initiative is that we can decide where on Earth we want NovaSAR to collect hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of Earth imagery per day, with highest priority for the Australian region. We will send programming instructions to the satellite via a computer terminal based in Australia that is connected to SSTL’s operations centre in the UK.</p>
<p>The satellite will then be tasked to point its radar at our chosen areas, collect this data, then send it directly down to ground receiving stations based in Australia while passing overhead.</p>
<h2>It’s all in the analytics</h2>
<p>Last year’s report on <a href="https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/83102/83102_EOS_Report.pdf">Australian Government Earth Observation Data Requirements to 2025</a> found that Australia’s Earth observation data storage requirements are expected to increase dramatically over the next decade. This will support the data needs of more than 140 government programs with a cumulative storage capacity requirement of approximately 44 PetaBytes by 2025.</p>
<p>The Open Data Cube (<a href="http://www.datacube.org.au/">ODC</a>)) platform - developed by <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/">Geoscience Australia</a>, CSIRO and the <a href="http://nci.org.au/">National Computational Infrastructure</a> facility and international partners – will house and process petabytes of satellite Earth observation data from multiple sensors.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<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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<hr>
<p>The ODC is built from open-source software and is used as the base technology for the new <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/about/projects/geographic/digital-earth-australia">Digital Earth Australia</a> program, plus 20 emerging datacubes around the world, designed to use Earth observation data and analytics more effectively.</p>
<h2>Focus on Australia</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">Earth observation data</a> today is no longer just a research activity. It informs policy, helps manage natural environments, assists recovery from major catastrophes and generates agricultural and industrial development opportunities.</p>
<p>NovaSAR will allow a new level of control over Earth observation data in and for Australia.</p>
<p>With the recent announcement that <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-will-have-a-space-agency-what-does-this-mean-experts-respond-84588">Australia will develop a space agency</a>, it’s an exciting time to work in the space sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a scientific and industrial research organisation, on average CSIRO receives approximately 80% of its funding from government, and 20% from targeted industry sources. </span></em></p>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.Alex Held, Principal Research Scientist, CSIROLicensed 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/833102017-09-21T19:43:24Z2017-09-21T19:43:24ZLost in space: Australia dwindled from space leader to also-ran in 50 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186935/original/file-20170921-16579-1pl0413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia worked closely with the UK, Europe and USA in developing space capability in the 1950s and 1960s. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/australia-seen-space-earth-daytime-series-174128336">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The eyes of the world’s space expertise will be on Australia this month, as Adelaide hosts the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">world’s largest space conference</a>. </p>
<p>The meeting occurs in the 50th anniversary year of the launch of Australia’s first satellite, <a href="https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/innovation/wresat-%E2%80%94-weapons-research-establishment-satellite">WRESAT</a>. This project occurred as the culmination of a decade in which Australia was seen as a significant player in the space arena.</p>
<p>But now, Australia is perceived to be underperforming in the space sector. It remains <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-talk-about-the-space-industry-in-australias-election-campaign-61567">one of only two OECD countries</a> not to have a space agency (the other nation is Iceland). </p>
<p>So what happened in the past half century to slow us down? My doctoral thesis is attempting to find the answer.</p>
<h2>The International Geophysical Year</h2>
<p>Australian involvement in space activities commenced with participation in the International Geophysical Year (<a href="https://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazine/igy/welcome.html">IGY</a>), a global scientific research program focused on understanding the Earth’s relationship to its surrounding space environment. Longer than a calendar year, the IGY ran from July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958, and was a significant catalyst for space-related activities in many nations.</p>
<p>In mid-1955, the USA and the USSR had both announced their intention to launch a satellite <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/siddiqi.html">during the IGY</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186704/original/file-20170920-19998-1d3qjrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1955 American announcement of plans for the building and launching of the world’s first man-made satellite, under President Eisenhower. The then Presidential press secretary James Hagerty is shown with five scientists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/gallerysput.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In that same year, Britain and Australia’s Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) announced their <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4452/578ffd4a5ff6110e81d7179f24d0c523d4c5.pdf">IGY plans to launch sounding rockets</a> for upper atmosphere research from the WRE-managed Woomera Rocket Range. Located in outback South Australia, the range had been established in 1947 under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Woomera_Range_Complex">Anglo-Australian Joint Project</a> as a guided weapons development and test facility.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186708/original/file-20170920-20014-18a77uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mockup of the world’s first satellite, Sputnik.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/gallerysput.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The decision to launch “sounding” (sub-orbital measurement-taking) rockets there for the IGY, coupled with US plans to launch the world’s first satellite, would lead to Woomera becoming the hub of early space activities in Australia. </p>
<p>The “space age” truly dawned in October 1957, with the surprise launch of the USSR’s Sputnik 1 satellite <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_924.html">beating the US into orbit</a>. A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race">space race</a> between the two Cold War superpowers commenced, with Australia poised to participate in the openly scientific and covertly military adventure of space exploration.</p>
<h2>Rockets, satellites, citizen scientists</h2>
<p>Britain’s <a href="http://www.sat-net.com/serra/skylar_e.htm">Skylark sounding rocket program</a> (1957-1979) would become the longest-operating space project at Woomera, launching British, Australian, European and American scientific instrument packages. <a href="https://csiropedia.csiro.au/mccracken-kenneth-gordon/">Australian</a> and <a href="http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/physics/research/xroa/astronomical-facilities-1/rocket-science-at-leicester/the-skylark-rocket">British</a> researchers made substantial contributions to X-ray, infra-red and <a href="https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/professor-john-carver-1926-2004">ultra-violet</a> astronomy using Skylark rockets.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186922/original/file-20170921-28770-kk92rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">8.2m in length, Long Tom was the first Australian sounding rocket.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Science and Technology Group</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the WRE’s first sounding rocket program was unsuccessful, the development of the <a href="http://homepage.powerup.com.au/%7Ewoomera/ltom.htm">Long Tom rocket</a> in 1958 paved the way for a succession of Australian <a href="https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/393477">sounding rockets</a> operating until 1975. This program, conducted in conjunction with the University of Adelaide, carried out upper atmosphere research that made important contributions to understanding the factors governing <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4452/578ffd4a5ff6110e81d7179f24d0c523d4c5.pdf">Australia’s meteorology</a>.</p>
<p>Australia was also ideally located, geographically and politically, to host facilities for the two networks planned to track America’s proposed satellite, Vanguard. These were: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitrack">Minitrack</a> (a radio-interferometry system), and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s <a href="http://bollerandchivens.com/?p=561">Baker-Nunn</a> optical tracking telescope cameras.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Moonwatch">Project Moonwatch</a> volunteers, mostly amateur astronomers, supported the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s work by spotting faint satellites and establishing their orbital co-ordinates so that the observatory’s high precision camera could be then be focused on the satellite. Australia boasted five initial Moonwatch groups (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Woomera and Perth) – the first citizen scientists of the Space Age. </p>
<h2>NASA takes over</h2>
<p>When NASA was formed in July 1958, it assumed control of these original tracking stations. By 1970, Australia was home to the <a href="https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/people/sar049/papers/JMS_50.pdf">largest number of NASA stations</a> outside the USA, hosting facilities for its orbital satellite, “manned” space flight and deep space tracking networks.</p>
<p>These facilities, managed and staffed by Australians, made significant contributions to the early exploration and utilisation of space, particularly the Apollo lunar program. Television coverage of Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon came to the world through the NASA Honeysuckle Creek tracking station in the ACT (with the rest of the television during the Apollo 11 mission relayed via the CSIRO’s Parkes Radio Telescope).</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/mission-over-the-final-countdown-to-cassinis-fatal-plunge-into-saturn-83873">The final countdown to Cassini’s fatal plunge into Saturn</a></em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Although advances in technology eventually rendered most of the Australian tracking stations obsolete, the NASA Deep Space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla, near Canberra, continues to play a major role in the exploration of the Solar System. It was the station responsible for monitoring the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mission-over-the-final-countdown-to-cassinis-fatal-plunge-into-saturn-83873">final hours of the Cassini mission</a> to Saturn, which concluded with the spacecraft’s death-dive into the planet’s atmosphere on September 15.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186717/original/file-20170920-900-1u1wwb7.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/dsn20101222-i.html">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Defence focus, and WRESAT</h2>
<p>Defence-related space research commenced at Woomera in 1958 with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Knight_(rocket)">Black Knight</a> and <a href="http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/jaguar_e.htm">Jabiru</a> programs.</p>
<p>Investigating nuclear missile warhead design, materials and re-entry phenomena, defence research programs continued until just before the termination of the Joint Project in 1980. </p>
<p>Particularly important to the Australian space story was the US-led <a href="http://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/04/26/redstone-the-missile-that-launched-america-into-space/">SPARTA Project</a> (1966-67): the generous donation of a spare launch vehicle from this program enabled the launch of <a href="http://homepage.powerup.com.au/%7Ewoomera/wresat.htm">WRESAT</a> (Weapons Research Establishment Satellite), Australia’s first satellite.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186778/original/file-20170920-965-1nmer91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The WRESAT satellite under construction in a WRE laboratory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Science and Technology Group</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With a launch vehicle available, WRESAT was designed, constructed and launched in only eleven months: a significant achievement in itself. A collaboration between the WRE and the University of Adelaide, WRESAT’s scientific instrument package was derived from the Australian upper atmosphere sounding rocket programs and helped to corroborate their findings.</p>
<p>Launched on November 27, 1967, WRESAT gave Australia entry into the exclusive “space club” of countries that had orbited a national satellite.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186924/original/file-20170921-5113-1ufg1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">WRESAT was launched from Woomera in 1967.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Science and Technology Group</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the end of its first decade of space activity, Australia had launched its own satellite, while a Melbourne University student-built <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-06/how-uni-students-got-nasa-to-launch-australias-first-satellite/8421480">amateur radio satellite</a> awaited launch in the USA. </p>
<p>The WRE had an active scientific sounding rocket program, participated in defence space projects and was supporting the European Launcher Development Organisation’s (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Launcher_Development_Organisation">ELDO</a>) satellite launcher test program at Woomera. </p>
<p>The country was a crucial participant in NASA space programs, through the tracking stations in the country, and an Australian (<a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/martyn-david-forbes-11076">Dr David Forbes Martyn</a>) chaired the UN Committee on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Committee_on_the_Peaceful_Uses_of_Outer_Space">Peaceful Use of Outer Space’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee</a>.</p>
<h2>Space program proposed, and rejected</h2>
<p>To build on these achievements, in 1968 the <a href="http://www.eoas.info/biogs/A000993b.htm">WRE proposed</a> a modest national civil and defence space program, which could have harnessed WRE and civil space capabilities towards the development of an Australian space industry. The proposal was rejected by the Gorton government on the basis of cost.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186788/original/file-20170920-900-1lyvpjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ELDO Europa rocket launched from Woomera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Defence Science and Technology Group</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This marked the beginning of a cyclical process that has, at least in the civil sector, hindered Australia’s ability to maintain its original level of space capability, or redevelop it over recent decades.</p>
<p>Political parties of both persuasions have shown shortlived, underfunded, bursts of support for developing an Australian space industry, only to withdraw that support just as these programs were achieving results.</p>
<p>Potentially beneficial membership of the European Space Agency (the European Launcher Development Organisation’s successor), to which Australia has been repeatedly invited, has been constantly rejected, also (ostensibly) on the basis of cost.</p>
<h3>Timeline of key events in Australia’s space activities: 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=1ICUy6gvxLqMtOIZoUrePT7ry7h0yeBLbYyKuGxqvfFk&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650" width="100%" height="650" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<hr>
<h2>No clear answer</h2>
<p>The reluctance of successive Australian governments to support national space activities and a national space industry has been something of a puzzle, especially given the country’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">reliance on space-based services</a>. </p>
<p>My PhD research has sought to find the answer to this question within the first two “boom and bust” decades of Australian space activity. So far, no clear answer has emerged, apart from claims that “it’s too expensive”. </p>
<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>While an economic case could perhaps be made for rejecting a 1959 Australian National Committee on Space Research proposal for a national science program – given that Australia was then in recession – the 1968 WRE and 1970 Australian Space Research Agency space program proposals were both put forward during periods of economic prosperity. Their proposed costs represented very small fractions of GDP, and could have been affordable.</p>
<p>These early space program proposals had modest proposed costs, and reflected modest goals of developing a national capability in an important emerging technology. </p>
<p>However, there seems to have been a perception in government that committing to a space program, and/or a space agency, meant committing to high-cost ventures such as human spaceflight (which were admittedly beyond Australia’s economic means at the time). </p>
<p>This unnecessary assumption, which was overtly expressed in the activities that were specifically ruled out of the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australias-satellite-utilisation-policy.pdf">2013 Australia’s Satellite Utilisation Policy</a>, has continued to bedevil proposals for the development of national space capability.</p>
<h2>Pragmatism, or something else?</h2>
<p>I find it hard to accept that, as one previous article in The Conversation has suggested, the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-will-soon-have-a-national-space-policy-no-giggling-please-9917">intense pragmatism</a>” of Australian governments has left them content to allow other nations to control Australia’s access to space.</p>
<p>As early as 1960, the government clearly recognised the value of space applications to the management and economic development of the vast continent of Australia, and to its national security. </p>
<p>Australia became an <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australias-satellite-utilisation-policy.pdf">early adopter of satellite technologies</a> and is well recognised today as a sophisticated and extensive user of <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">space-based services and space-derived data</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-data-from-earth-observation-satellites-but-our-access-is-high-risk-82985">Australia relies on data from Earth observation satellites, but our access is high risk</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Until the economic rationalism of the 1990s, the development and management of national infrastructure was seen as the responsibility of government. </p>
<p>Why, then, was the “orbital infrastructure” of satellite networks on which the country came to rely, not also considered a responsibility of government in earlier decades? </p>
<p>Is it pragmatic to allow other nations, even if they are allies, the ability to control Australia’s access to vital space-based services? </p>
<p>Engagement in overseas military actions since 1990 has already taught the Australian Defence Force the importance of having control of its own <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Documents/Australias-satellite-utilisation-policy.pdf">satellite communication assets</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"902856567133016065"}"></div></p>
<p>In late 2015, the government commenced a <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-the-Space-Activities-Act-1998.aspx">review of the Space Activities Act</a>, which has been seen as hindering the growth of the New Space sector in Australia.</p>
<p>Growing calls from the space national space community for a space program and space agency have also this year prompted the <a href="try/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-Australian">2017 review of Australia’s space industry capability</a>. </p>
<p>Will the outcome of these two reviews be the revival of Australian space activities, at a level to equal or surpass our space engagement of half a century ago. Or will the nation continue to remain “lost in space”? </p>
<p>Perhaps an announcement during the <a href="http://www.iac2017.org/">2017 International Astronautical Congress</a> will tell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerrie Dougherty is the author of Australia in Space (ATF Press, 2017) and received funding from the Space Industry Association of Australia to write the book. She is also a member of the National Space Society of Australia</span></em></p>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?Kerrie Dougherty, PhD candidate, UNSW SydneyLicensed 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.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/285592014-07-23T20:18:09Z2014-07-23T20:18:09ZInvesting in space: what the UK Space Agency can teach Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54540/original/3tjxktqm-1406015936.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soaring above Western Australia: we need a new approach to get more of a share in the global space industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/8867539832">Flickr/NASA Marshall Space Flight Center</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has had an active civil space program since <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/Timeline_Web_April13.pdf">1947</a> but has much to learn if it is to capture a bigger share of growing billion dollar global space industry.</p>
<p>The potential size and scope of the Australian space sector compares well against several other space nations, notably the United Kingdom and Canada. But both those nations have more effective space sectors that are centrally administered by a single government body, whereas Australia space activities are not strategically managed by a central entity.</p>
<p>In particular the UK has recently adopted an agency approach to managing civil space activities, after decades of committee administration. There are lessons for Australia in the approach that the UK took in creating its agency.</p>
<h2>Australia’s space exploits</h2>
<p>Australian civil space activities are currently overseen by the Department of Industry’s Space Coordination Office (<a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpacePolicyUnit/NationalSpacePolicy/Pages/default.aspx">SCO</a>), which last year replaced the Space Policy Unit. The SCO is tasked with coordinating all of Australia’s national and international civil space activities.</p>
<p>Working in conjunction with the SCO is the Space Licensing and Safety Office (<a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpaceLicensingSafetyOffice/Pages/default.aspx">SLASO</a>) which implements regulatory and safety regimes for space activities within Australia or involving Australian contributions in international programs.</p>
<p>The SCO drafted the <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/Australia%27s%20satellite%20utilisation%20policy%20-%20version%201.1p%20-%2016%20April%202013.pdf">Satellite Utilisation Policy</a>, Australia’s most recent space-focused government policy. Its original intent was to develop a policy that will:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] articulate a comprehensive national space strategy and facilitate better coordination of space activities across Government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the realised policy falls short of being a space policy, as it considers only the use of space-derived data in the Australian context.</p>
<p>It does however highlight Australia’s dependency on internationally provided space data (for weather forecasting, land management and position and navigation services).</p>
<p>It also hints at Australia’s vulnerability in securing the continuation of these services, as most are provided free through time-limited international agreements.</p>
<p>These government bodies exist to facilitate the activities in space of outside parties. They do not initiate or manage space programs in their own right, and have no capacity to sponsor such programs. </p>
<h2>Our failings in space</h2>
<p>Australia’s approach to space activities is passive and regulatory. It does nothing to create or grow them to take advantage of new opportunities.</p>
<p>In fact, this passive strategy may even put off Australian efforts to keep up with international competition. </p>
<p>There are two basic areas of the space sector where Australia is failing:</p>
<ol>
<li>strategic oversight and development of nationally important space services</li>
<li>strategic investment to exploit a growing multi-billion dollar space market</li>
</ol>
<p>To support the first, Australia needs a space agency, and for the second it needs a space program. To see how this might be implemented, the recent UK experience provides a good case study.</p>
<h2>Lessons from the UK</h2>
<p>Prior to 2010, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) was responsible for coordinating the UK’s civil space activities, serving a similar role to Australia’s SCO. </p>
<p>Towards the end of its life the BNSC was beginning to show several failings in approach and operation. Notably it lacked a unified view and approach, coordination across its remit, and the independence to make strategic policy.</p>
<p>Collectively it managed a budget for space activities, but the application of this budget was decided through consensus across its partners. This resulted in a splintered set of supported programs and a series of lost opportunities for the UK and its domestic activities. </p>
<p>Within the UK there had been increasing pressure from space industry leaders for better government support. To support their cause the domestic space industry collectively set up and funded the <a href="https://www.stfc.ac.uk/resources/pdf/case-for-space.pdf">Case for Space</a>, an economic study that demonstrated the value of the space industry to the UK economy. </p>
<p>This set in motion a government-led investigation called the Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (<a href="http://www.parliamentaryspacecommittee.com/media/publications/Space%20IGS%20Main%20Report.pdf">Space IGS</a>). This studied in more detail the size and health of the domestic space industry, identified the civil space stakeholders and investigated areas in most need of support and growth. </p>
<h2>A share of the space market</h2>
<p>Core to the findings of the Space IGS was that UK needed a space program with the one primary goal – to capture 10% of the global space market and have a centralised government agency to deliver it.</p>
<p>The 10% goal is an important stake in the ground. It sets out a requirement for growth and forces the government to approach the industry as an economic asset. Shortly after, the UK Space Agency (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-space-agency">UKSA</a>) was formed. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q1QocSlORWQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">70,000 jobs supported by the UK space sector. UK Space Agency.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The agency was set up very quickly to precede the 2010 general election. Its initial funding and responsibilities were transferred directly from the BNSC, allowing the transition to take place with little to no extra spending.</p>
<p>The agency has been much more effective than the BNSC. In the last four years there has been more support for industry, more technology development, and simplified and expanded access to satellite data. The UKSA has also allowed more strategic participation in larger international (mainly European Space Agency (<a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">ESA</a>)) programs.</p>
<p>Most importantly, in working towards growing the UK civil space market the UKSA has helped set up <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298362/igs-action-plan.pdf">programmes</a> that are assisting established space businesses, aiding the establishment of new ones and helping the agency meet the targeted 10% market share.</p>
<h2>What should Australia do?</h2>
<p>Looking at the performance of the UKSA in its first few years, and considering the similarities of the BNSC and the SCO, it is clear Australia could be getting much more out of its space industry.</p>
<p>The space industry is a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298355/size-and-health-report-oct-2012.pdf">rapidly growing market</a> averaging a yearly growth rate of 7.5%. It is expected to grow from a A$322 billion to A$722 billion industry over the next 20 years.</p>
<p>Australia has so far captured only about A$1.2 billion or just 0.37% of the existing market.</p>
<p>Of this potential extra A$400 billion future market it is expected that new activities will make up a significant portion. This future market is likely to comprise downstream use of new satellite data (positioning, navigation, earth imaging) along with upstream opportunities in the area of small satellites, consumer electronics in space and space tourism.</p>
<p>This is to the advantage of high tech countries with less of an established space industry, as this market will depend less on established infrastructure and businesses, and more on innovation and technology transfer.</p>
<p>But failure to engage with this now will lose Australia the ability to compete in this market in the future.</p>
<p>Learning from the UK process, the key steps to consider for a centralised civil space agency in Australia would be:</p>
<ol>
<li>carry out a government initiated Space IGS-style report on Australian space activities, built on the studies already performed under the Australian Space Research Program</li>
<li>define a clear vision and set achievable goals for the industry</li>
<li>review agency models for the best fit for the Australian situation</li>
<li>act on it – consolidate space budgets and assign appropriate authority to the agency (additional government funding is not a prerequisite)</li>
<li>develop a space policy to support the goals of the agency</li>
</ol>
<p>In the UK, the space industry pushed for the formation of the UKSA mostly as a reaction against the inadequacies of the BNSC and lost commercial opportunities. The end result was a more efficient and more decisive agency with far reaching benefits across the industry, academia and government.</p>
<p>In Australia, the space industry is showing a growing appetite for this. The Space Industry Association of Australia (<a href="http://www.spaceindustry.com.au/">SIAA</a>) is preparing a strategic document examining its vision for the Australian space industry in the near future.</p>
<p>Additionally there are a growing number of start-ups (<a href="http://www.saberastro.com/home/index.html">Sabre Astronautics</a>, <a href="http://launchbox.net.au/">LaunchBox</a>, etc) and support networks (<a href="http://www.deltavspacehub.com/">DeltaV</a>) targeting space opportunities.</p>
<p>This could all be done in a more proactive manner. The opportunity exists to see the benefits of a strategic agency promoting a consistent agenda, to best take advantage of the changing nature of the space industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster receives funding from the Australian Research Council and has received funding from the Australian Space Research Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barnaby Osborne and Elias Aboutanios do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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…Barnaby Osborne, Academic Fellow, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, UNSW SydneyAndrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyElias Aboutanios, Senior Lecturer in Signal Processing, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/207222013-12-04T03:23:01Z2013-12-04T03:23:01ZTo launch Australia into space, we need inspiration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36750/original/3fqrjg96-1386039574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We've seen Australia from space. Now let's see it in space.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>India’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-mars-mission-beats-neighbours-sniffs-for-methane-19959">recent launch</a> of a mission to Mars should cause us to contemplate Australia’s potential role, or lack of one, in such ventures.</p>
<p>We presume India mounted this project at amazing speed to give China pause for thought in its military modernisation and strategic designs. However, as one of India’s top space scientists <a href="http://www.space.com/23464-india-launches-mars-orbiter-mission.html">said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To visit another planet is a fantastic thing, the biggest thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yash Pal, also a former chairman of India’s University Grants Commission, was not involved in developing the Mars mission, but told the Associated Press:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you can afford air planes and war machines, you can certainly spend something to fulfil the dreams of young people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We all know that the US going to the Moon was about competition with the USSR. But we also know that very significant science was achieved and continues to this day.</p>
<p>NASA’s Apollo program was associated with a five-fold increase in the number of PhD graduates in the US in science, mathematics and engineering. When the US stopped that program, graduate numbers dropped.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36229/original/s42pjsnw-1385513723.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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">US doctorates in the 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thurgood, L., Golladay, M., & Hill, S. (2006). Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Firing Australia’s public imagination</h2>
<p>It is sometimes said that there is no point in Australian universities educating students in the skills required for deep space missions because there are no jobs available here. </p>
<p>This is nonsense: graduates are mobile and could end up anywhere, potentially returning home with new skills. But also it misses a key point. Education and training related to space involves many other skills that are vital for our future, including nanotechnology, quantum physics, mineral exploration, environmental monitoring, navigation and telecommunication. </p>
<p>There are declining enrolments by students in science, mathematics and engineering. Space exploration is a great attractor to aspiring specialists, from primary school to university age, as can be seen from interest in programs such as the <a href="http://www.nbnmarslab.com/">Mission to Mars</a> at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. </p>
<p>So, why has Australia not embraced the exploration of the solar system? No Australian government has ever shown much interest beyond the use of satellites.</p>
<p>Aficionados can point to some significant projects such as the solar observatory at <a href="http://www.ips.gov.au/Solar/3/1">Learmonth</a> in WA. But at the level of the public imagination, there is little or nothing.</p>
<h2>Learning from radio astronomy</h2>
<p>In the 1950s, the well-organised astronomy community, led by some gifted scientists, persuaded Australia’s government of the day to make a series of big investments in optical and radio astronomy. </p>
<p>Now faint signals from the far universe can be collected by radio telescopes in Australia, free from the interference of mobile phones, welders and other sources of electromagnetic interference. We also have great views of the southern sky.</p>
<p>Our contributions to optical and radio astronomy have continued, dramatically illustrated by our major role in the development of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/square-kilometre-array">Square Kilometre Array</a>.</p>
<p>But the space science community has not been so well organised. Perhaps this is just an accident of history, but it needs to change if we are to actively exploit the opportunities available. </p>
<p>Important progress was made with the publication in 2010 by our Academy of Science of a “<a href="http://www.science.org.au/natcoms/nc-space/documents/nc-space-decadal-plan.pdf">decadal plan</a>” for space science. The work that went into developing this plan uncovered a hitherto undocumented wealth of local expertise. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36228/original/y6tr8wyg-1385513645.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Providing more views like this could inspire a generation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia’s niche capabilities</h2>
<p>There is no economic case for having our own commercial launch facilities or our own space exploration missions. But we have niche capabilities that would allow us to make significant contributions to the programs of other nations.</p>
<p>For example, we have <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/our-chips-firing-mars-rovers/2008/01/12/1199988650452.html">supplied</a> “space-hardened” <a href="http://www.silanna.com/index.php?page=contact-us">chips</a> for a Mars mission.</p>
<p>We have numerous other relevant skills, including robotics, mineral mapping using infrared spectroscopy, and geological and biological expertise needed for planetary exploration (already enthusiastically sought by NASA). </p>
<p>The development of the <a href="http://rsaa.anu.edu.au/technology/advanced-instrumentation-technology-centre">Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre</a> in the ACT is a step in the right direction. It is a national facility that will be capable of designing and building “space-qualified” sensors and, in time, small satellites.</p>
<h2>Inspiration is intangible, but brings change</h2>
<p>Canada is often held up as an example of what we should be doing. It is a similar country, with a similar economy, but has much greater engagement with space matters. </p>
<p>Canada has an arm on the International Space Station and is an associate member of the <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">European Space Agency</a>, which has led to significant technology transfer and international collaboration across numerous disciplines. </p>
<p>But in Australia, pragmatism seems often to over-ride vision, to our detriment.</p>
<p>Seeking to inspire might seem like an intangible pursuit, but it is also a powerful agent for change. It nurtures education, that generates innovation, that builds an economy. None of this just happens. We need to fight for it. </p>
<p>We’re not suggesting that we compete with NASA, ESA, India or anybody else, but that we set our sights high and get on with reaching those goals in our own way. By doing this, we will inspire our young and set the wheels in motion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malcolm Walter receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research that relates to the search for life on Mars. He has worked with colleagues in NASA.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Biddington is a Canberra-based consultant who specialises in space and cyber space security matters. His is the Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carol Oliver receives funding from the Australian Government's Australian Maths and Science Partnerships Program and the Broadband Enabled Education and Skills Services Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roy Sach has served in several space-related positions including as a company director (Auspace Ltd), advisor to the Institute for Telecommunications Research and Director of (Australian) Defence Space.</span></em></p>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…Malcolm Walter, Professor of Astrobiology, UNSW SydneyBrett Biddington, Adjunct Professor, School of Computer and Security Science, Edith Cowan UniversityCarol Oliver, Associate Director, Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW SydneyRoy Sach, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Science, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/137702013-04-29T19:58:42Z2013-04-29T19:58:42ZA satellite to save Australia? We should have one of those<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22937/original/jd8mqtwj-1367185966.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Measuring and monitoring Australia's fresh water will become increasingly important.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EADS Astrium</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does Australia need space capabilities? Well, as Senator Kate Lundy said this month when <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/technology/sci-tech/satellites-key-to-australias-first-space-policy-20130409-2hiiu.html">announcing the government’s new space policy:</a> “Australians, whether they know it or not, rely on satellites every day.” </p>
<p>While this importance is indeed <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SPACEPOLICYUNIT/NATIONALSPACEPOLICY/Pages/default.aspx">reflected in the policy</a>, now is the time for specifics: to assess national space needs and develop programs to meet them. I want to argue that our most pressing national need is for data on water.</p>
<p>The continent is blessed with abundant resources, including farmlands, natural wonders and iconic sites, and all those resources are under complex and increasing pressures. <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-such-thing-as-climate-change-denial-11763">Changing climate</a>, increased demand, growing population and economic competition are stressing our land, our farms, and our flora and fauna. </p>
<p>At the nexus of these challenges is a single fundamental resource: fresh water. It is <a href="https://theconversation.com/banking-water-underground-for-our-future-11031">increasingly in demand</a> for human use and agriculture. Our wetlands have an undiminished need for water to maintain their vitality. </p>
<p>The distribution of water in Australia is changing: rains come more in summer, less in winter. As climate changes, the amount and distribution of available water will change. No-one yet knows how.</p>
<h2>The invisible resource</h2>
<p>Australia’s water assets include lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs and the underground water table. But there is more: additional water is found in the soils, right at the surface. </p>
<p>This is a highly significant resource: there is as much water in the uppermost layer of Australia’s soils as in all our lakes, rivers and reservoirs. It is also the most crucial to plant life: this is the water that plants actually consume.</p>
<p>In addition to the obvious importance to irrigated farming, moisture in the soil has many other far-reaching impacts. It drives the weather. It determines when and how much wind will erode the soil and cause dust storms. </p>
<p>It is the key to effective land-use planning and the health of Australia’s unique ecologies. It is critical for broad acre farming and grazing.</p>
<p>It is difficult to think of a single environmental variable more influential to the overall health of Australia’s economy, agriculture, population and environment. The importance of this “invisible resource” to Australia cannot be overstated. </p>
<p>Yet, to date, there are very few tools for measuring and monitoring this resource, and certainly none that can survey the entire nation.</p>
<p>So what if we could provide a device that could see all the moisture across the Australian continent, like weather pictures from space?</p>
<h2>Science fiction</h2>
<p>Imagine, if you will, the following scenario.</p>
<p><em>CANBERRA, April 29, 2025: Once again eastern Australia is in the grip of a severe drought. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/murray-darling-why-australia-needs-intergovernmental-cooperation-10358">Murray and Darling</a> rivers are at record low levels. River red gums along their banks are in danger of complete destruction.</em></p>
<p><em>Irrigators are unable to obtain sufficient water for their crops. The danger of dust storms is looming.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22984/original/5vw5ghm4-1367209259.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dead trees on Murray River floodplain near Qualco, SA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Credit: Murray-Darling Basin Authority.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>To salvage the precious environmental areas and prevent further damage, farmers and natural resource managers in the catchments are <a href="http://www.garada.unsw.edu.au/">turning to Garada</a>, an Australian radar satellite. Garada measures the amount of moisture in the soil.</em>
<em>Garada data has shown the natural resource managers some areas along the river that still have adequate soil moisture, so they can target environmental watering to the sites that truly need it. This has freed up a few precious gigalitres for irrigators to keep crops alive.</em></p>
<p><em>Graziers are using Garada information to identify when paddocks are about to be exhausted, and have moved their cattle in time to prevent overgrazing.</em></p>
<p><em>Garada has found some moist sites in the west that can sustain partial ground cover. Planting efforts have survived, and are helping to suppress dust storms.</em></p>
<p><em>Never has the nation been able to weather such a severe drought with as few long-term consequences. The data from space may have saved Australia.</em></p>
<h2>Science fact</h2>
<p>We should think about soil moisture the way we think about weather. Meteorologists rely on satellite images to make forecasts, and we see them on the TV news every night. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22938/original/mq5q5p5d-1367186448.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tropical Storm Rusty from space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Credit: NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The soils have a kind of “weather” too – the amount of moisture they hold. This “moisture bank” is so important that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/csiro">CSIRO</a> has initiated the <a href="http://www.eoc.csiro.au/awap/">Australian Water Availability Project</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to monitor the state and trend of the terrestrial water balance of the Australian continent, using model-data fusion methods to combine both measurements and modeling. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Today, it’s mostly modelling and very little measurement.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22939/original/yrd2rymb-1367186638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An estimate of Australian soil moisture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With one satellite, Australia could measure the moisture in its 7.6 million square kilometres every week–farm by farm, paddock by paddock, river bend by river bend. With two satellites, we can monitor especially sensitive areas, such as the <a href="http://www.mdba.gov.au/about-basin/basin-environment">Murray-Darling Basin</a>, every three days with this fine resolution.</p>
<p>At UNSW, the <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/projects.html">Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research</a> has verified that this is within reach. The project was funded by the <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/AUSTRALIANSPACERESEARCHPROGRAM/Pages/default.aspx">Australian Space Research Program</a>. </p>
<p>Led by the Centre’s director Professor <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-dempster-254/profile_bio">Andrew Dempster</a>, an international team of aerospace companies and universities, including myself, has investigated the technologies needed for these measurements, and to build this satellite. They are all achievable. </p>
<p>All it takes is the commitment to build it.</p>
<p>So, does the government’s new space policy, officially called the <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpacePolicyUnit/Pages/default.aspx">Satellite Utilisation Policy</a>, make the commitment? </p>
<p>It certainly recognises the importance of data from space. But it appears to stop short of saying: “If there is a critical data need for Australia that other nations aren’t providing, we must commit the resources to fulfil the need ourselves.”</p>
<h2>A pressing need</h2>
<p>Of all agricultural nations, <a href="http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-farms-and-farming-communities">Australia gets by far the least rainfall</a>. Its iconic ecologies are world treasures. Both agriculture and those ecologies are frequently threatened by the variability of the climate. </p>
<p>Do we need to invest in an expensive satellite (or two) to get the data to manage this challenge? At a 15-year program cost of up to $800 million, it wouldn’t be cheap. But we can expect the payback to be tenfold or more–in better managed water, in nourishment of precious ecologies, in improved land use management, and decreased health costs of respiratory diseases.</p>
<p>Of course, you shouldn’t just take my word for it. Here is the view of <a href="http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/execserv/council/profile.html">Alan Finkel</a>, chancellor of Monash University and founder of <a href="http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/">Cosmos magazine</a>, who <a href="http://www.garada.unsw.edu.au/res/Invisible%20Resource%20Brochure.pdf">reviewed our concept</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Intuition can only take us so far. To make truly great decisions about our essential water resources, farmers and ecologists, climatologists and policy makers need to know where the water is and how its distribution is changing. The only conceivable way to monitor this is from space.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13770/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Roesler works for the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, which receives funds from the Australian Space Research Program.</span></em></p>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…Gordon Roesler, Visiting Researcher & Senior Project Engineer, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44962011-12-15T03:15:39Z2011-12-15T03:15:39ZAustralia in space: what’s our policy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6455/original/bnb96t3n-1323838558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Space touches all of us – but how can we stay in touch with space?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The iconoclastic yet iconic ionic icon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost every aspect of our lives is in some way touched by space science and technology. As such, the <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpaceIndustryInnovationCouncil/Documents/Government%20Alignment%20in%20Space%20Policy%20and%20Services%20Space%20Council%20Working%20Group%20Report%202011.pdf">public policy implications</a> are many and varied. </p>
<p>Services provided via space-based technologies are fundamental to our access to information and services – so poor management of, and inequity of access to, those services would have far-reaching ramifications. </p>
<p>When it comes to space-based technologies, consider the following: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Health:</strong> access to information about services, direct communication with medical practitioners, diagnosis at a distance for remote areas, speed of response and access.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Navigation:</strong> the safe and efficient movement of people and goods is facilitated by technologies such as GPS. When working efficiently, these cut travel times and costs.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Entertainment:</strong> this is a no-brainer. Satellite TV cannot exist without, well, satellites. And this is only one example.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Security:</strong> personal safety (communication and navigation for example), data-gathering and information dissemination about weather emergencies, monitoring of food resources, military and border-protection surveillance.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Economy:</strong> large components of our economy rely on data gathering, its efficient transfer and services related to these data.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Climate change:</strong> satellite data are critical in both monitoring and managing the effects of climate change.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Education:</strong> sound, inclusive policy is needed not only to support education in general, but also to fulfil our need to train technicians and engineers to work directly in space-based industries. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6438/original/mcwd9mmf-1323833890.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Satellites are used to track changing weather and climate, as in this composite of northern Queensland during and after a drought.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of particular relevance are the skills shortfalls of 40% or more among organisations responding to surveys such as <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/APAC%20Final%20Report%20-%20Current%20Space%20Activities%20April%202010%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">those reported here.</a> Currently more than 80% of these organisations are filling their shortages with overseas appointments. </p>
<p>But despite these dependencies on space-science and its products, Australia does not yet have an overarching, whole-of-government policy approach to guide our space-related training, research and development. That puts us in a deeply risky position. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6442/original/w5gswy27-1323834320.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s a little difficult to watch satellite TV without satellites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steel Wool</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The experience from other countries suggests it’s only through sustained, long-term government involvement that space-based industries can achieve critical mass, and from there, stability. </p>
<p>At the very least, Australian Government policies relating to all facets of space science should include explicit support for the strategic and tactical management of existing satellite-based positioning and navigation research and development. Such policies should also provide leadership to strengthen, and broaden, our capacity in this sphere.</p>
<p>This is even more critical as we have seen an <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/Symbios%20Final%20Report%20-%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20International%20Space%20Landscape%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">active decline</a> in our capabilities in this realm in recent years. That decline not only diminishes our capacity to sustain our domestic needs, but has also made us a less-desirable “other half” for international partnerships.</p>
<p>So where are we at?</p>
<p>There is currently a whole-of-government, national space policy being built within the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (<a href="http://www.innovation.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx">DIISR</a>) which is due to be put before cabinet in early 2012. (Actually, not quite whole-of-government, as there needs to be a separate defence one for obvious reasons.)</p>
<p>While this effort is unquestionably praiseworthy, it’s perhaps wise to remain “optimistically sceptical” until the final details are revealed. Such scepticism is not aimed at DIISR though, nor the many players who have been involved in this more-than-three-year-long process. </p>
<p>It is more a scepticism at the likelihood of success of any government initiative that requires multiple-department buy-in. This is perhaps even less like in a case such as this; a case where truly whole-of-government cooperation is required. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6451/original/mndd8bhd-1323837246.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s easy to take space-based technology for granted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Alan Porritt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also have to be aware that at least two very powerful private players are key stakeholders in the space industry in Australia: the telecommunications industry and – even more significantly – the petroleum industry.</p>
<p>Of course, the participation of big-media and big-oil doesn’t automatically mean that we will have policies foisted on us that aren’t in the interests of the greater good. But it does suggest another reason to be sceptical and vigilant until our new policy approaches to space are disclosed. </p>
<p>Space policy is not something many of us think about at all, better yet pay much attention to. But given the extent to which space science and technology is now embedded in our everyday lives, perhaps we should.</p>
<p><strong>This is the last of three articles in our Australia in Space series. You can read the previous instalments here:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Part one: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-in-space-looking-out-and-looking-in-4494">Australia in space: looking out and looking in</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Part two: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-in-space-letting-others-watch-us-but-at-what-cost-4495">Australia in space: letting others watch us … but at what cost?</a></strong></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Lamberts owns shares in a science facilitation start up and has been commissioned to co-author pieces for the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. He receives funding from the ARC Linkage Grant program. </span></em></p>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…Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44952011-12-13T19:44:23Z2011-12-13T19:44:23ZAustralia in space: letting others watch us … but at what cost?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6377/original/w76sjzy6-1323752713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A satellite picture of Cyclone Yasi from the Japanese weather satellite MTSAT 1R.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">German Meteorological Society/DPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s Chief Scientist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-chubb-5153">Ian Chubb</a> has more than once described the Australia of the past as a “<a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2011/06/professor-ian-chubbs-address-to-the-national-press-club/">mendicant country</a>” regarding science.</p>
<p>While this is a controversial, perhaps overly-broad, generalisation, that description is unsettlingly apt when it comes to our access to space-based technologies.</p>
<p>Australia owns very little of the space infrastructure it routinely needs to use, and our own Earth satellites are <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/a-little-bit-of-our-own-space-20110307-1bk95.html">limited to a handful</a> sent up by others for commercial communications. </p>
<p>So Australia has a few “second tier” space assets, which are lower cost, and which typically focus on specific countries or regions, and travel in an equatorial plane. They tend to be task, or purpose, specific. </p>
<p>What we don’t own is “first tier” space assets – satellites that maintain <a href="http://www.phy6.org/Education/wlopolar.html">polar orbits</a>, that over time can track view the entire globe and can be generically purposed for all kinds of activities. </p>
<p>This kind of kit allows things such as broader communication capacity and the images you see on <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/index.html">Google Earth</a>. This is the type of data we must purchase from other countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6381/original/5rrqcpch-1323753092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia needs its own polar-orbiting satellites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what does our mediated access mean in practice? Well, during the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria for example, the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/sceptic-science/lost-in-the-space-race-20110302-1be5i.html">movement of bushfires was tracked</a> using data from China’s National Space Administration, and all our weather satellite data comes from Japan.</p>
<p>Risky …</p>
<p>And even assuming we maintain at least cordial, if not friendly, relations with the countries from whom we buy or borrow satellite capacity, there are still problems. </p>
<p>In requesting another power to fly over areas of our country to provide us with information about our own crops (which we do), we are giving away a wealth of intelligence to potential competitors on commodity markets. Revealing our hand becomes even more precarious when we are gathering intelligence data using someone else’s toys. </p>
<p>Our highly-exposed position in regards to our Earth observation capacity is neatly summarised in <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/Symbios%20Final%20Report%20-%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20International%20Space%20Landscape%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">this 2010 report</a>: </p>
<p>“ … million-dollar Australian government programmes and executing agencies are completely dependent on the health and continuity of the foreign-owned and operated space assets, which provide necessary imaging, positioning and data relay services … </p>
<p>"This data flow is essential for Australia and we access these data by the good graces of our bilateral agreements or through commercial arrangements. We have no independent autonomy in this regard and are therefore highly exposed and potentially vulnerable to changing international arrangements.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6369/original/gzx4qcxy-1323751092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&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 Black Saturday Bushfires of February 2009 were tracked by foreign satellites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So it’s not at all surprising strong arguments have been made that Australia at least needs to develop and launch its own Earth Observation satellites given we rely so much on the data these provide, and on the countries who provide us access to theirs. </p>
<p>But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. </p>
<p>Australia’s strongest capability is in the integration and analysus of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_observation">Earth Observation (EO)</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system">Geographic information system (GIS)</a> data and in 2008, EO was the number one spend by government. Also, improving our home-grown capacity not only decreases our reliance on others – investment in the space industry offers some solid returns. In Canada, for example for every dollar spent, they estimate a return of between $3.50 to $4. </p>
<p>The numbers get even better when we look at benefits to existing industries, and the development of new ones, in the USA, Europe and Japan, with estimated returns on investment in space technology of between 5:1 and 7:1. </p>
<p>Not too shabby.</p>
<p>But as a small country, we need to focus on our critical needs, and be realistic about areas where we have an existing capability and track record, or can feasibly build one. </p>
<p>The new <a href="http://msowww.anu.edu.au/public/stromlocam.php">AITC facility</a> at Mt Stromlo is both a product of such focus, and mechanism for further honing it. But improved infrastructure and facilities are themselves not enough to help us stand on our own two (space) feet. It takes organisation, and organisation on a national scale.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Australia’s space capability and policy had been ad hoc in the past, with results <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpaceIndustryInnovationCouncil/Documents/Government%20Alignment%20in%20Space%20Policy%20and%20Services%20Space%20Council%20Working%20Group%20Report%202011.pdf">along the lines of the following</a>: </p>
<p>“ … our Government purchasing is not coordinated, and there is even anecdotal evidence that some space data sets are purchased twice or more by different arms of government.</p>
<p>"These factors have meant that the space activity that exists in Australia remains fragmented, and is not strong enough to compete for the large global contracts that characterise a mature space industry.”</p>
<p>What has this meant in practice? An example close to our hearts is that the very existence of the AITC national facility was sparked by an “act of God” more than any long-term public policy or strategic view of Australia’s space science capacity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6373/original/556q46gc-1323751384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fancy new buildings alone won’t develop our space industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ANU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Had the catastrophic <a href="http://www.extremeweatherheroes.org/media/25782/canberra_bushfires_jan_2003.pdf">Canberra bushfires</a> not decimated the original facilities at Mt Stromlo in 2003, much of what now exists there site would never have been built. So this act of God and the subsequent vision of the senior people at the RSAA brought about the creation of a critical facility.</p>
<p>It was in some sense fortuitous that the fires swept through and inspired some new thinking, bringing Australia’s space sector into the 21st century some eight years later. </p>
<p>But we can’t keep operating this way.</p>
<p>What’s needed from here now is a focus on addressing our national vulnerabilities in the as a whole-of-government issue, which is no easy task.</p>
<p>A whole-of-government policy has been planned for more than three years but still is incomplete because of the enormity of thinking required by all government departments. </p>
<p>Designing, approving and implementing large-scale public policy initiatives is rarely simple or straightforward. There are multiple players an perspectives, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the space sector.</p>
<p>In the final part of this series, we’ll turn our gaze to the Australian space policy landscape and consider what’s currently happening, what needs to be looked at immediately, and what we think will be important in the future.</p>
<p><em>This is the second part of Australia in Space. To read the first instalment, click on the following link: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-in-space-looking-out-and-looking-in-4494">Australia in space: looking out and looking in</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4495/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Lamberts owns shares in a science facilitation start up and has been commissioned to co-author pieces for the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. He receives funding from the ARC Linkage Grant program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Franzen 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 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…Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National UniversityRoger Franzen, Technical Programs, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44942011-12-12T19:20:04Z2011-12-12T19:20:04ZAustralia in space: looking out and looking in<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6317/original/wdfvxkth-1323659051.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New infrastructure is putting the Australian space industry on the map.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">RSAA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>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 is arguably unrivalled by any other science. </p>
<p>And it’s an easy sell …</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6016/original/space-att-smithsonian-instituion-jpg-1322615424.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Smithsonian Institution</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But behind the beautiful images and mindbending theories, there is a diverse and booming industry upon whose products we are more dependent than many realise. And with work having just finished on the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre (<a href="http://minister.innovation.gov.au/Carr/Speeches/Pages/MOUNTSTROMLOADVANCEDINSTRUMENTATIONTECHNOLOGYCENTRECONSTRUCTIONLAUNCH.aspx">AITC</a>) at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) at the ANU, it’s a good time to take stock of Australia’s position as a space-faring nation.</p>
<p>The AITC is a federally-funded, national resource that goes a long way to underpinning the space infrastructure Australia has been lacking for years. Phase II of the AITC was completed last month, and Phase III will see the integration of additional operational equipment in the coming year.</p>
<p>The AITC is a quasi-commercial body that provides an avenue for both civilian and defence bodies to conduct research and development on new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanosatellite#Nanosatellite">nano and pico satellites</a>.</p>
<p>It also provides a focal point (yes, pun intended) for the application of the RSAA’s excellence in the design and construction of astronomy-based technical skills in optical instrumentation. These skills are applied to technologies critical to the observation of our planet not just for research, but for our national security and prosperity.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6018/original/pico-satellite-nasa-jpg-1322615431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AITC phase III allows research and development on Pico satellites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this is not a marketing pitch for the AITC. Space-related research and development matters because space science and technology are <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpaceIndustryInnovationCouncil/Documents/Government%20Alignment%20in%20Space%20Policy%20and%20Services%20Space%20Council%20Working%20Group%20Report%202011.pdf">ubiquitous</a> in, and intrinsic to, our day-to-day lives. </p>
<p>Mobile phones and ATMs rely on satellite information for time-stamping and GPS services. Without space technologies, our ability to predict and pre-empt weather events would be essentially non-existent. We access space assets in the <a href="http://www.regional.org.au/au/gia/10/322button.htm">agricultural sector</a>, for <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/minerals/mineral-exploration/geophysical-maps-images.html">mineral exploration</a> and for environmental monitoring. </p>
<p>But perhaps most immediately relevant is the fact we rely on space technologies for media access that we now take for granted. Without access to space-based infrastructure, we threaten television and internet access. While this might seem frivolous at first glance, take a moment to imagine a world without (or with extremely limited) access to TV and the web.</p>
<p>Space science and its related technologies are now completely embedded in our lives via communication, financial, entertainment, food, weather and security systems.</p>
<p>But many people don’t realise the extent to which this is the case. This is partly due to a few key misconceptions about space-science and the countries involved in the space science sector:</p>
<p>1) <strong>“Space science” and “astronomy” are the same thing</strong>. While the ubiquitous public face of space research and activity focuses on looking from Earth to the heavens (astronomy), arguably our most critical efforts involve turning our instruments around and peering from the sky to the ground (Earth observation). </p>
<p>In fact, in the context of Australia’s space industry, a report commissioned by the <a href="http://www.innovation.gov.au/">Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR)</a> characterises astronomy as “having synergies with space science”, but not as being a part of it. So while intimately related, “space science” does not equal “astronomy”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6027/original/steve-kay-jpg-1322621524.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Everyday technologies, such as mobile phones, rely on satellite-information.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Kay</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>2) <strong>Space activity is all about NASA and astronauts</strong>. Actually, no. As exciting as rocket launches, the <a href="http://hubble.nasa.gov/">Hubble telescope</a>, and sending humans to the moon are, the vast majority of our space-focused efforts are almost mundanely terrestrial. While many of the tools used for Earth observation derive from astronomical instruments, their on-the-ground uses are far more commonplace.</p>
<p>3) <strong>Doing space stuff is expensive</strong>. Since the early days of space development, the costs involved have limited participation to those wealthy nations able to pay for the previously huge costs. When the average person is asked to comment about the cost of space involvement, most think of numbers in the hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars.</p>
<p>Thankfully, those days are gone. Today it’s possible to develop useful space missions from as little as a few tens of thousands of dollars. This has come about because of the benefits of miniaturisation and our old friend, <a href="http://theconversation.com/double-or-nothing-could-quantum-computing-replace-moores-law-362">Moore’s Law</a> – the long-term trend in computing hardware that shows the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years.</p>
<p>Instead of massive multi-tonne objects, today’s satellites are as small as a 100 millimetre cube. Even a commercially-useful mission might only weigh a couple hundred kilograms.</p>
<p>4) <strong>Only a handful of wealthy countries participate in the space sector.</strong> Actually, at least <a href="http://www.spacenews.com/civil/100223-survey-space-agencies-spending-grew-last-decade.html">55 countries</a> have the kind of space industry infrastructure that Australia has only now completed (i.e. the AITC). This includes neighbouring nations such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. </p>
<p>In addition, independent reviews of the international space landscape commissioned by the Australian Government (<a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/Symbios%20Final%20Report%20-%20A%20Review%20of%20the%20International%20Space%20Landscape%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">such as this one</a>) reveal a thriving, and rapidly expanding international space industry with an estimated worth, in 2008, of US$250 billion.</p>
<p>So there’s money in the space industry, there are innumerable applications beyond pure research, and to function in a modern, first-world economy, countries rely on space-based technologies (Earth observation satellites among others) every single day.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/6017/original/earth-att-nasa-jpg-1322615427.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Space science differs from astronomy and involves looking at Earth, rather than out from Earth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So how does Australia compare in this area? </p>
<p>In 2010, there were more than 450 organisations in Australia involved in space-related activities, with an <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/Documents/APAC%20Final%20Report%20-%20Current%20Space%20Activities%20April%202010%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">estimated annual revenue</a> of between $800 million and $1.6 billion. Impressive as this may sound, we still punch <a href="http://www.space.gov.au/SpaceIndustryInnovationCouncil/Documents/Government%20Alignment%20in%20Space%20Policy%20and%20Services%20Space%20Council%20Working%20Group%20Report%202011.pdf">below our weight</a> when considered in the context of our enormous dependence on space-based technologies. </p>
<p>Our government spends nearly $1 billion per year on space services. But this figure does not include the hidden costs of our heavy reliance on the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/a-little-bit-of-our-own-space-20110307-1bk95.html">goodwill of a number other countries</a> (such as the USA and Japan) who allow us free access to some of their space-based assets for Earth observation. </p>
<p>So what if these arrangements stopped?</p>
<p>Australia has many unique geographic, resource and security challenges. We are a large, dry continent with an extremely disperse population. As such, our dependency on satellites and related technology is unavoidable. But currently we are not even vaguely self-sufficient in our capacity to meet our space science, technology and data demands. </p>
<p>In this way we are vulnerable to the mores and machinations of international politics.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the global space paradigm has permanently changed and a whole new world of opportunity awaits. Space is affordable and need no longer be dominated by wealthy nations with dreams of rockets and astronauts. Instead, almost any nation can conceive and develop cost-effective solutions to global and regional monitoring, all serving to better manage knowledge about our home planet. </p>
<p>But the technical challenges are possibly the least of our concerns.</p>
<p>In the second piece of this series, we’ll look more closely at Australia’s vulnerability and challenges in the field of space science …</p>
<p><em>This is the first instalment in our three-part Australia in Space series. Follow the links to the other instalments below.</em></p>
<p><em>Part Two: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-in-space-letting-others-watch-us-but-at-what-cost-4495">Australia in Space: Letting others watch us … but at what cost?</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/4494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Lamberts owns shares in a science facilitation start up and has been commissioned to co-author pieces for the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. He receives funding from the ARC Linkage Grant program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Franzen 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>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…Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National UniversityRoger Franzen, Technical Programs, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.