Accessing space from Australia: How it benefits all Australians

By Scott Schneider, Southern Launch General Manager - Regulation & Legal

Australia 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- user whenever, if taking the above examples, any Australian seeks to consume homegrown produce, wants reliable phone and internet service on a road trip, and wants to live in a comfortable or eco-friendly town or suburb. Australia will not have sustainable control over the NewSpace services providing all these benefits without an ongoing domestic NewSpace launch industry.

In 2019 the Australian Federal Government committed to supporting the growth of Australia’s space sector to reach a capacity of 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs and be worth 12 billion AUD by the year 2030.

The often-overlooked third area of significant benefit afforded by sovereign NewSpace launch activities is the opportunities presented to Australians living in remote environments, including indigenous Australians. People in remote regions of Australia also benefit from the general applications of space services such as remote healthcare, agriculture monitoring, and weather forecasting. Yet, domestic launch activities provide an additional and unique benefit beyond the end applications of space services. Remote communities situated in the areas of launch ranges and testing locations can significantly engage in and benefit from the upstream support of those NewSpace services. During Southern Launch’s TED campaign in 2020, individuals residing in the communities close to launch location completed relevant training before being hired to contribute to certain critical operations required to ensure launch activities were carried out safely.

Finally, Australians in remote locations benefit from the economic activity that takes place in local industry in the lead up to and during a launch campaign. Hospitality, tourism, and retail industries in the communities near to launch activity experience a significant rise in sales when launch teams, stakeholders, and the general public arrive to town in preparation for a launch. Not least, and perhaps most importantly, is the inspiration and enthusiasm demonstrated by young people towards engaging in the space sector for a career because of Australia’s NewSpace launch activities. Southern Launch has long engaged with the Koonibba community near Ceduna in South Australia to educate local school children on the nature of rocketry activity and the space economy. Feedback from both the students and school administration was overwhelmingly positive, with students being now motivated to graduate school and pursue STEM courses at university. This feedback is significant not only in terms of the vital importance of introducing children living in areas with fewer opportunities for employment to new career pathways but also because it is necessary to ensure the future Australian workforce can support the nation’s industries to meet the growing and diversified global demand for NewSpace space products and services. Such involvement and dependence on the residents of aboriginal communities bind Australia’s strong heritage in ancient astronomical activity to the contemporary and future NewSpace activities. A sustainable sovereign NewSpace capability not only benefits indigenous Australians; it relies upon their contribution in several key areas.

The question to consider is whether Australia ensures it builds upon these positive signs in a sustainable way. The country’s natural conditions are of immense advantage for hosting NewSpace launch activity. With nearly year-long fair weather, low density of air traffic, and low infrastructure and population under flight paths, foreign launch vehicle operators consider Australia’s environment an ideal launch location. In recent years, the expertise of Southern Launch and other national launch leaders such as Gilmour Space Technologies and Equatorial Launch Australia have proven the Australian industry can accommodate a variety of the NewSpace launch demand. This has given some assurance to international launch vehicle and satellite manufacturers that Australia has the necessary expertise to support their projects. The remaining element to determine whether Australia will secure the demand for NewSpace launch activity is the government’s response to this demand of and interest in Australia.

In 2019 the Australian Federal Government committed to supporting the growth of Australia’s space sector to reach a capacity of 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs and be worth 12 billion AUD by the year 2030. The purpose of this 2030 goal is for the government to ensure Australia becomes a globally responsible and respected national actor in space activities while lifting the domestic economy, inspiring Australians, and improving the lives of Australians. One of the government’s seven key priorities in the plan to reach this goal is to consider the regulatory environment related to Australian launch activity. Should the application of the regulatory environment prove to be competitive against other commercial launch countries, Australia will surely capture a sizeable portion of the global demand for NewSpace launch services. What follows is a sustainable sovereign launch capability – a requisite to Australia becoming a primary actor in the global NewSpace service provision for the benefit of all Australians.