Space

Space startup Quasar to revolutionise space communication

Australian space startup Quasar Satellite Technologies is set to revolutionise space communication, allowing ground stations to talk to hundreds of satellites at once using technology developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. Over the next decade, more than 57,000 satellites will be launched worldwide to support a surge in demand for space-derived data, from environmental monitoring such as bushfires and floods, to connecting to sensors on ‘Internet of Things’ networks. However, with present-day ground stations typically tracking one satellite at a time, heavy congestion is expected to limit the potential of satellites and the downstream industries they support. Launched today, Quasar is backed by $12 million in funding, technology and industry expertise from CSIRO, Main Sequence, the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer, and Australian companies Vocus, Saber Astronautics, Fleet Space Technologies, and Clearbox Systems. Quasar will look to capitalise on the US$130 billion satellite ground communications market, using technology developed by CSIRO for radio telescopes like its own ASKAP telescope in Western Australia. CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said after helping receive images of humans on the Moon fifty years ago, the commercialisation of this breakthrough research would now help put more Australians into new jobs in the growing space industry. “CSIRO has been a leader in radio astronomy and spacecraft communications for more than 60 years, from supporting the Moon landing in 1969 to inventing and delivering the phased-array feeds in Australia’s newest radio telescope, ASKAP in Western Australia,” Dr Marshall said. “CSIRO’s technology breakthrough enabled the world to connect without wires using fast WiFi, and now our technology will help connect satellites using our breakthrough phased array technology.” Quasar CEO Phil Ridley, a telecommunications veteran behind some of Australia’s pioneering internet services like BigPond and Vividwireless, said the technology would enable new satellite-based business […]

Fleet Space Technologies applies for a Federal MMI grant to build 50 nanosatellites a year

Adelaide satellite manufacturer Fleet Space Technologies has applied for a $5 Million Federal government Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) grant so that it can jump from building three hand-built nanosatellites a year to mass-producing 50. Additional support from the South Australian government will supplement nearly $4 Million the company is raising itself. If the grant application is successful, Fleet Space will become a major satellite manufacturing hub and increase its payroll from 31 staff today to 128 by 2024, says its CEO and co-founder Ms Flavia Tata Nardini. Most of the new employees will be engineers and specialist satellite assembly technicians. Fleet Space has spent $12 Million since 2015 on R&D to develop the world’s most advanced beam-steering antenna and to miniaturise its satellites’ communications payload. These make it possible to deliver its Nebula space-based data network using a 10kg nanosatellite where previously this level of connectivity was only possible with a 100kg satellite. The company, which has already launched four nanosatellites, has applied for a $5 million grant under the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources’ Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) to help it make the jump. Fleet Space plans to build a new factory with more than double the space for R&D and manufacturing and has partnered with the University of Adelaide’s Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing, local company Redarc Electronics, Hawker Richardson in Melbourne and NSW-based Lintek to build the industrial capability to manufacture these nanosatellites in Australia. The Nebula service for utilities, mining and energy companies uses satellites to connect sensors monitoring critical infrastructure such as remote mine sites, alternative energy sites, gas pipelines and rurally dispersed electricity pylons with central base stations, 24 hours a day. This also allows operators to conduct geological surveys and operate unmanned vehicles such as drones remotely from a proper […]

Australia launches lunar exploration mission

A collection of South Australian space, remote operation and mining companies are part of a national mission to send nanosatellites and exploration sensors to the Moon in 2023 in a bid to find water and other resources. Fleet Space Technologies is deploying nanosatellites to help develop the global Internet of Things and now a Moon mission. An initiative of South Australian nanosatellite company Fleet Space Technologies, the Australian lunar exploration mission will search for “abundant, accessible water and resources” using adapted mining and space technologies. Named Seven Sisters, the mission aims to cement Australia as a leader in space exploration within the next decade and support NASA’s Artemis Program. Artemis will try and send the first woman and another man to the Moon by 2024. Fleet Space CEO Flavia Tata Nardini said Seven Sisters would use mining techniques to assist NASA in identifying viable water and other mineral deposits on the Moon through an array of sensors on the lunar surface by capturing images of water and mineralisation below. She said this would equip Artemis with the data required to make “prudent decisions ahead of robotic and human exploration”. Nardini said Fleet was already proving its Moon capabilities through its constellation of Centauri nanosatellites, which power a global network of connected sensors and devices. The space startup launched its first small satellites in 2018 on board SpaceX, Rocket Lab and ISRO and has a tracking station an hour outside of Adelaide, South Australia. South Australia is home to the Australian Space Agency and the South Australian space ecosystem has grown in recent years, with collaborations with NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the presence of numerous successful startups such as Myriota, Lux Aerobot, and Southern Launch. Nardini said Seven Sisters would be further aided by its first generation of prototype probes. Fleet expects to begin testing the […]

Researchers to help NASA monitor health in space

A South Australian advanced manufacturing hub specialising in microfluidic sensors is working with NASA to develop health assessment tools for space travellers.Andrew SpencePrint articleRepublishNotify me The Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) has partnered with NASA to help Australian researchers develop sensors to monitor health through the testing of bodily fluids such as sweat and saliva. Located in Adelaide at the University of South Australia, the same city as the Australian Space Agency and a swag of emerging space startups, the South Australian node of the ANFF is one of eight university-based hubs around Australia. The South Australian node started a decade ago specialising in microfluidics. Its expertise has since grown to include lab-on-a-chip technology, advanced sensing, functional coatings and separation science. Node Director Associate Professor Craig Priest leads research into the development of microfluidic sensor platforms designed to monitor human health factors, which will be an initial focus of the international partnership with NASA. Assoc Prof Priest said the partnership was an example of “the very first fruits of return on investment” for Australia’s rebooted space industry and would harness exciting nanotechnology and microfluidics research at the UniSA Mawson Lakes campus. “When you are working and travelling in space there is no doctor on board or regular health testing facilities and we know astronauts are operating in a challenging environment,” he said. “You can imagine in a space environment where you’ve got zero gravity, radiation and other extreme conditions, the ability to know if things are going wrong quickly is very important. “We are aiming to work with NASA to develop non-invasive health self-assessment, and possibly wearable, tools that will be able to analyse things like sweat and saliva and track health effects in real time. “The research supports ambitions for further and longer journeys into space and will help astronauts to monitor […]