Space is big. Really big. And there’s not much up there – except all the trash. And that’s suddenly become a valuable resource, as recycling space junk could put an end to the days of fire-and-forget satellite launches. Thanks to South Australian space-industry start-up Neumann Space, every piece of scrap metal in orbit above us … Continue reading Mountains of space junk could carry us to Mars
Tag: australian space industry
Australia’s space start-ups already bursting at the seams
The Adelaide incubator has been running hot. Space technology start-ups have started to hatch, and Australia’s newest industry is eager to fly the nest. Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) CEO James Brown told Cosmos he’s excited to see the rapid growth of the first clutch of start-ups based at South Australia’s Lot Fourteen precinct. … Continue reading Australia’s space start-ups already bursting at the seams
Tall poppies growing to orbit | Cosmos Weekly Taster
This article on the Australian space economy first appeared in Cosmos Weekly on 10 September 2021. For more stories like this, subscribe to Cosmos Weekly. The promise of the global space economy has been recognised. Innovation is being celebrated. Ambitions are being nurtured. The time has come for these seedlings to bloom. That still needs … Continue reading Tall poppies growing to orbit | Cosmos Weekly Taster
Tall poppies growing to orbit
The promise of the global space economy has been recognised. Innovation is being celebrated. Ambitions are being nurtured. The time has come for these seedlings to bloom. That still needs effort. Australia must embrace a sense of urgency. But it must be tempered by accepting the risk space has always embodied. Only when our space … Continue reading Tall poppies growing to orbit
3D printing rocket and satellite parts
The ability to 3D print satellite parts sounds like something out of science fiction, but Swinburne University of Technology is planning to do just that. The university will install an elaborate 3D-printing system, built by additive manufacturing company Titomic, next year. The system will be able to print a range of different substances – including … Continue reading 3D printing rocket and satellite parts
War crimes in space
On 9 July 1962, the United States sent a 1.4 megatonne nuclear warhead into space, perched on the nose of a Thor rocket. Known as Starfish Prime, it exploded 400km above the Pacific Ocean. Pictures taken at the time show a spectacular skyshow, and there were reports the high-altitude nuclear test set off an electromagnetic … Continue reading War crimes in space
A shot at the Moon
The lessons we’ve learned through coping as Australians – such as living, working and surviving in remote locations, and communicating over great distances – are the things that give us a place at the table of future space exploration. The dozen apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972 left more … Continue reading A shot at the Moon
Cosmos Briefing: Building Australia’s Space Industry
Australia’s Space Agency is young, but that doesn’t mean we should be underestimated in space: that’s the message from yesterday’s Cosmos Briefing. Aude Vignelles, Chief Technology Officer at Australian Space Agency; Adam Gilmour, CEO of Queensland-based Gilmour Space Technologies; and Cassandra Steer, a lecturer and researcher in space law at the Australian National University, discussed … Continue reading Cosmos Briefing: Building Australia’s Space Industry
Australia re-enters the space race
South Australia’s west coast will roar with the sound of rocket launches this week, as start-up Southern Launch begins its test program with two sub-orbital rockets. It will be a significant moment for Australia’s space industry – the next chapter in a history of rocket launches extending over six decades. It’s also the first tests … Continue reading Australia re-enters the space race
Australian space industry satellite launch
The Australian space agency has hit another milestone with the successful launch of the M2 Pathfinder satellite. The M2 Pathfinder, a collaboration between UNSW Canberra Space researchers and engineers and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), follows the launch of M1 in late 2018. It is the second of four cube satellites to be flown in … Continue reading Australian space industry satellite launch