Just after midnight on Monday 27 June, above the vast wilderness of the Dhupuma Plateau in the Northern Territory, a sounding rocket designed to carry out experiments in space was launched by NASA -the agency’s first launch off Australian soil since 1995.
It was also the Arnhem Space Centre’s first ever rocket launch, and the first commercial rocket ever to launch from Australia, hosted by Equatorial Launch Australia.
It has been hailed as an ‘incredible milestone’, but it isn’t the only significant space activity taking place in Australia. The creation of a domestic space agency, a surge in domestic and international investment, greater accessibility, the advent of autonomous systems, and the growing need for telecommunications, earth observation and satellite technology all signal that Australia’s space sector is finally coming into its own.
This expansion was the focus of the 2022 Innovation Lecture, delivered last week at The Warren Centre by the Australian Space Agency’s Director of Space Technology, Katherine Bennell Pegg.
According to Ms Bennell Pegg, an alumna of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Engineering, space is the next frontier for Australian innovation.
“It’s an exciting time for space globally, but particularly for us here in Australia,” said Ms Bennell Pegg. “We are in a unique phase where our space capabilities are expanding and we have the opportunity to shape that growth.
“Australia has so many world-leading niche capabilities that can be leveraged to further ourselves as a global space player and a regional powerhouse – including our desirable geographical location, stable political environment, wide open ranges and long coastlines, a rapidly maturing and growing space talent base, and a responsible regulatory framework.
“While innovation is central to space, space can also drive innovation across the nation more broadly – in mindset, in technical capability, in entrepreneurship. Space innovation is often innovation at its most extreme.”