Registration and exhibition open
Welcome remarks from the Master of Ceremonies
Welcome Address - Space Centre Australia
Welcome Address with Australian Space Agency
Welcome Address
Welcome Address
Opening Keynote
Morning tea
Registration and exhibition open – breakfast/networking
Day 2 welcome remarks from the Master of Ceremonies
Opening keynote #1
Opening keynote #2
Morning tea
Dispersed, resilient and refocused: The future of military SATCOM systems
The defence industry has responded emphatically to market-driven advancements in SATCOM technology. While securing sovereign SATCOM capabilities remains a strategic priority for our nation, the industry has unwound its reliance on GEO-based SATCOM systems to reflect a security arena increasingly defined by multi-orbit capabilities.
By uniting defence leaders with established and emerging industry players, this session will aim to set the foundations for a collaborative, resilient and responsive national SATCOM strategy.
Our panellists will:
International partnerships in defence: Building autonomy
To recognise its potential as a sovereign space power, Australia must play an increasingly active role in global defence space partnerships. By continuing to deepen partnerships with the United States Air Force, the United States Space Force, the NATO Space Centre, and our allied partners, Australia can enshrine its role as a strategic ally while continuing to pave the way for its own space ambitions.
In this session, we will consider how strengthening defence partnerships will help Australia establish greater agency in the space arena.
Our panellists will:
Is Australia winning the race to hypersonic technology?
For over a decade, global powers have engaged in a hypersonic arms race. Now, ripples of investment and research have swelled into a tidal effort to develop hypersonic technology, and Australia is at the heart of this shift in global security.
In this session, we will consider the deep implications of hypersonics for the defence and space domains, as well as the broader implications of this technology.
Our panellists will:
The stars align: How AUKUS is redefining Australia’s role in space
The AUKUS alliance is an essential pillar of Australia’s space and security matrix. From the transfer of nuclear-powered submarine technology through to developing new deep space radars, the landmark security alliance promises to redefine our nation’s role as a security partner not just in the Indo-Pacific, but also in outer space.
This session is dedicated to exploring how the AUKUS alliance is strengthening Australia’s security posture and opening new avenues for collaboration in advanced technologies, intelligence sharing, and space capabilities.
Our panellists will:
Has the sector made enough progress in increasing diversity?
The space sector has the potential to become one of the nation’s most transformative, influential, and future-focused industries. However, attracting and empowering a more diverse and inclusive workforce is essential if the sector is to reach its full potential.
This session will confront the systematic underrepresentation of women in the sector, before exploring how diversity of race, gender, and thought will fuel innovation and build resilience.
Our panellists will:
Room to grow: Scaling Australia’s space sector
Australia’s space sector is poised for significant growth, with heightened reliance on satellites for both defence and civilian communications increasing national dependence on the sector. A strategic approach to strengthening talent pipelines, systematic education reform, and cross-industry partnerships are required to ensure this trajectory of growth is not shackled by a nascent workforce.
This session will examine the practical steps required to expand the space workforce and secure Australia’s position as a global leader in space innovation.
Our panellists will:
The sky’s the limit: Inspiring the next generation of space professionals
There was a time when space – the last frontier – captured our collective imagination and wonder. For many of us, that time was when we were children. More can be done to stoke this curiosity and to illuminate tangible career pathways for students.
In this session, we will explore the role of education, mentorship, and industry engagement in facilitating young Australians to pursue careers in space. By connecting students, educators and industry professionals, the sector can ignite a passion for space that feeds the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators.
Our panellists will:
John Mather, NASA’s Nobel Laureate, said that 50 per cent of project costs are socially determined. NASA’s Stephen Johnson took this even further in 2008, saying: “Frequently we find that the failure effects and proximal cause are technical, but the root causes and contributing factors are social or psychological … Although the statistics have not been studied fully, my sense, from experience in the field and discussions with other experienced engineers, is that 80 to 95 per cent of failures are ultimately due to human error or miscommunication.” (2008)
In this session you will:
• Experience one of the most critical astronaut selection criteria.
• Discover how NASA pivoted the focus from process to social context with incredible results.
• Explore the leadership and team development behaviours that helped make NASA the Best Place to Work in US federal government 12 years in a row.
A new port: Attracting and transitioning seasoned professionals
The gravity of the nation’s expanding space sector is attracting experienced professionals from adjacent sectors who are eager to bring their skills to new frontiers. Attracting and transitioning second-career professionals will help alleviate immediate talent shortages while injecting new cross-sector perspectives.
In this session, we will discuss how the space sector can continue to attract and support valuable second-career workers.
Our panellists will:
Filling the void: Protecting humanity from space, and space from humanity
We live in a different strategic reality to that envisioned by the early pioneers of space governance. While the anti-nuclear precedents outlined in The Outer Space Treaty were visionary, they did not anticipate the technologies that are now enabling deep strategic interests in outer space. From advanced conventional weaponry to autonomous systems and robotics, our current international framework is falling behind the military and commercial opportunities awakened by new technologies.
In this session, we will consider how governance can keep up as humanity ventures further into space.
Our panellists will:
Sweeping under the stars: Confronting space congestion
Our journey into the stars has informed a deeper understanding of both our planet and our impact on it. But as humanity mobilises to exist sustainably on Earth, we must also cast our eyes skywards and confront the consequences of our expansion into space.
In this session, we will examine the strategies, technologies, and policies required to protect our near-Earth space environment, positioning Australia at the forefront of global space stewardship.
Our panellists will:
Space and defence: The potential for dual-use innovation
Australia’s space industry is growing in maturity and influence, awakening new possibilities for cross-sector collaboration. With the scope of the nation’s space ambitions set to expand and overlap with the defence industry, emerging technologies should be embraced with a dual-use mindset.
In this session, our panellists will interrogate current synergies between Australia’s space and defence sectors, before casting an eye towards future dual-use technological applications.
Our panellists will:
A shared vision of space: Securing space access through launch site collaboration
To exert influence over the space domain, Australia and its allies must secure the reliable and continuous use of space-based assets. Central to this undertaking is securing sovereign launch capabilities, a task that our nation, with its vast landscapes and strategic global positioning, is uniquely suited to. But to emerge as a true world leader in suborbital spaceflight, the nation will need to build a comprehensive ecosystem around its launch capabilities, leaning on the collaborative potential of its launch sites to realise a shared ambition for assured space access.
In this session, we will explore ongoing government, commercial, and collaborative efforts to build this ecosystem.
Our panellists will:
From digging deep to flying high: The aspirations of Australia’s mining sector
From asteroid mining ambitions through to lunar exploration, construction, and habitation, space resources are one of the inimitable keys that will unlock our cosmic expansion. While many of the possibilities enlivened by space resources are distant, others are within reach. And Australia, with its unrivalled ingenuity and experience in mining resources, has a longer reach than most.
In this session, we will not only consider how Australia can become a global leader in space exploration and resource extraction, but discuss how space-enabled technologies are revolutionising on-earth mining operations.
Our panellists will:
Securing supply: Developing a robust defence supply chain in Australia
The pandemic revealed that overreliance on foreign capabilities was a widely entrenched vulnerability in global supply chain networks. To meaningfully reduce exposure to geopolitical tension and international competition, Australia must ramp-up investment in local industry while continuing to integrate global expertise.
In this session, our panellists will address the pressing need for Australia to reduce foreign dependencies by shifting the balance of supply towards local capabilities.
Our panellists will:
Next is now: Readying the nation for 2030’s earth observation satellites
Australia’s inclusion in the pioneering satellite program Landsat Next will provide the nation with invaluable data for mining exploration, monitoring of the Earth’s climate, water and environment, crop and agricultural health, and management of floods, fires and natural disasters. However, the sector must continue to hone advanced data processing and analytics capabilities, as well as enhance key infrastructure, to effectively leverage this program and address national priorities.
This session is concerned with how the nation will process, validate, and disseminate the deluge of data flowing from Landsat Next in 2030.
Our panellists will:
From observation to action: Practical applications of earth observation data
Where our previous session unpacked technical preparations for Landsat Next, this panel considers key applications for the highly anticipated data once it arrives.
From climate monitoring and resource management through to novel uses in urban environments, this session will showcase practical applications of EO data and the impact of Landsat Next on key sectors of the national economy.
Our panellists will:
Competition in the stars: Connecting remote communities
Australia’s vast landscape is being connected from the stars. With the promise of providing reliable connectivity to remote and underserved areas, satellite-to-mobile technology is overhauling traditional service models and elevating competition in the telecommunications sector.
This session will begin by exploring the competitive impact of emerging LEO satellite constellations, before moving onto how deep shifts in Australia’s telecommunications industry will have profound impacts on the rest of the economy.
Our panellists will:
Artemis and the lunar Roo’ver: Setting stepping stones into deep space
It has been 55 years since Apollo first guided humanity to the Moon. Generations later, it is only fitting that his divine twin Artemis should assume the mantle and propel human-led discovery in deep space. This time around, NASA is collaborating with commercial and international partners, inviting Australia to flex its world-leading remote operations expertise by contributing “Roo’ver” the regolith collector to the Artemis program.
This session will explore how Australia’s lunar ambitions fit into a broader push to establish a permanent base on the Moon, and the implications of the Artemis program for the nation’s space sector.
Our panellists will:
Distant horizons: Autonomous approaches to the Red Planet
Where our previous session centred on lunar expeditions, this session casts our panellists deeper into outer space and into the domain of autonomous systems. The Artemis campaign’s ambition for space habitats and planetary exploration hinges on advanced automation and autonomous agents, disciplines that are attracting unprecedented attention and commercial investment in the space sector and beyond.
With the international space community’s eyes set on Mars, the question now is how Australia can hone its autonomous capabilities to help the global space community reach the Red Planet.
Our panellists will:
Main stage closing keynote
Closing remarks from MC
Post-event networking
Closing keynote
MC close
If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact Jack via email.
*Agenda subject to change