The group includes pioneers such as Gilmour Space Technologies, a company building the first Australian rocket, and Southern Launch, a business set on developing the first local launch pad.
Others in the alliance are DEWC Systems, Inovor Technologies, Neumann Space, Nova Systems, REDARC Defence Systems, and Space Machines Company.
The move is a “genuine sovereign response” to the Commonwealth’s call for the Australian industry to provide its “expertise” to further its interests in space, according to Ian Spencer, chief executive officer at DEWC Systems.
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Revealed at the 13th Australian Space Forum on Thursday in Adelaide, the group is dubbed the Australian Defence Industry Space Capability Alliance (ADISCA).
The collective capabilities of the members include:
- Launch vehicle design and manufacture
- Space vehicle design and manufacture
- Payload design and manufacture
- In-space propulsion
- In-space transportation
- Launch services and mission control services
- Supporting commercial, civil and defence sectors.
Spencer said the members will work together to develop “cutting-edge space and defence technologies” that will be utilised for Australia’s interests in space.
The move comes months after Australia’s defence industry set out new strategic priorities in September.
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Priorities include robotics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, space, hypersonic weapons, information warfare and cyber capabilities.
While the alliance is not clear on how these companies will work together, AuManufacturing notes it will likely allow companies to gain “prime status which would maximise Australian content and the development of indigenous technology and skills”.
Australia has committed to bolstering the industry in recent years and is set on providing 20,000 new jobs by 2030 within the sector.
It follows a similar move in September when 30 Australian companies and universities pushed a $150 million bid to the federal government to establish new space facilities in Queensland.
The group is proposing to enhance homegrown capabilities through the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) Collaboration Stream – a $1.3 billion project announced in 2020.
It is under the Australian Space Manufacturing Network (ASMN), which is spearheaded by Gilmour Space Technologies, a rocket and satellite manufacturer, and backed by the Queensland government.
It comes as many industry leaders have touted that Australia requires a “whole of” space industry that combines government, institutions, and companies together to gain traction from international investors, and to become global pioneers of the sector.
Isabella Richards
Bella Richards is a journalist who has written for several local newspapers, her university newspaper and a tech magazine, and completed her Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at the University of Technology Sydney in 2020. She joined Momentum Media in 2021, and has since written breaking news stories across Space Connect, Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
You can email Bella on: [email protected]
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