If Australia designs its National Space Agency along international lines it will be a sub agency to an industry-focused government department and promote local space industry as a niche player with both extensive heritage in key technologies and a culture of innovation across 400 existing Australian companies.
So said Joe Andrews, assistant manager of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s Civil Space and Cyber Security Industry Growth Division, when speaking to the 200-strong Adelaide crowd at Wednesday’s fourth South Australia Space Forum.
Andrews provided an insight in to key findings from the Australian Government’s ongoing Review of Australia’s Space Industry Capability, announced in July this year and scheduled to provide an industry strategy to government in March 2018. The review is being led by an Expert Reference Group (ERG), chaired by Dr Megan Clark.
The review has commissioned three major reports in to the Australian and global space industries, received more than 160 submissions totalling more than 1200 pages, and consulted more than 400 people, the majority in round-table discussion. It has highlighted the diversity in the structure, focus and budget of international space programs.
“While you have the NASAs that are out by themselves as a separate entity, predominantly agencies are located within a government department or as a sub agency," Andrews told the forum. "It actually is usually an industry department that has the space agency as part of it. Some are purely R&D agencies, others are just focused on the needs of government and defence, whereas some are looking much more at economic focus, on how to develop industry.”
The review has also documented Australia’s existing heritage and strengths in space.
“The review has identified our competitive attributes, like our high levels of education, the geographical advantage. It also showed that we have world class capabilities in ground systems, software and their applications and also again reaffirmed our close strategic alliances with other space powers.
“A lot of attention was drawn to our network of ground stations, that Australia is in a prime receiving and communications area of the world, and that we can extend those services to other countries. It noted our expertise in precision navigation and timing technologies and infrastructure.
“Earth observation was seen as a great strength for Australia, probably more on our ability to interpret earth observation data.
“And there are some frontier areas where we think we can go: artificial intelligence and data analytics, space situational awareness, quantum cyber security, optical communications to increase the speed of communications, propulsion systems, looking more at the sort of small plasma propulsion system and atmospheric physics, so looking in to the space weather applications.”
Andrews told the review’s outcomes will answer the question he is asked most: the agency’s location.
“The simple response is that in March 2018 we’ll know a bit more,” he said. “But watch this space.”