AUSTRALIA IN SPACE
Accessing space from Australia: How it benefits all Australians
By Scott Schneider Southern Launch General Manager - Regulation & Legal
20 | Australia in Space Magazine
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ustralia has a long relationship with outer space. Australian Aboriginals living over 40,000 years ago are the first known creators of astronomical records. By using the features of outer space for timekeeping, navigation, governance, mythology, and more, the indigenous people of Australia have a deep connection with the skies beyond earth. Today, Australians continue to use outer space to increase our standard of living. National security, disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, agriculture, mining, environmental management, manufacturing, and remote healthcare are only some examples in which harnessing outer space increases any particular capability while simultaneously decreasing its cost to the end-user. This correlation represents the NewSpace phenomenon. NewSpace is a paradigm born from the growth of the private space industry and emblematic of low-cost access to space, smaller satellites, and the reduction of administrative and regulatory barriers across the space sector. In the Australian context, a pairing of the enthusiasm for new business and research ventures with exceptionally strong scientific and technical expertise has brought Australia to the forefront of the global NewSpace economy. What has followed is that the country is currently afront a window of opportunity to secure its position as a global leader in several NewSpace services. A domestic capability servicing the whole value chain in certain NewSpace activities not only means the outputs of the Australian industry and research sectors are exported to the world market, but everyday Australians can depend on the domestic economy for their essential space-derived
services rather than relying on Australia’s international partners or suppliers. A key component of Australia’s increasing its portion of NewSpace service provision is the ability to place into orbit spacecraft which support essential and next-generation space-derived services: which means, launch provision. Benefits derived from a domestic NewSpace launch capability are military in nature as well as civil. From a strategic perspective, it is of paramount importance that Australia reduces its dependence on foreign launching nations when seeking to conduct rocketry or satellite activity for national security purposes. The civil benefits of a sovereign NewSpace launch capability are three-fold. In the first instance, launch operations increase macroeconomic activity in Australia. International customers of Australian NewSpace launch service providers are bringing their launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, integration, and testing supply chains to Australia. This increases jobs and grows communities, particularly in rural areas surrounding launch ranges and testing locations. Secondly, and following from the direct economic stimulation, domestic NewSpace launch services are necessary to secure civil benefit to Australians and consumers who rely on or can benefit from using space applications. Developments in, for example, advanced earth imaging, telecommunications and position, navigation, and timing systems allow Australians to better manage farm assets, better communicate in remote areas, and make better use of enhanced precision tools for urban development. These benefits make their way to the end-
