Round two of the Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund will open on Wednesday, 30 October, and close on Sunday, 2 February 2025.
The funding is available to SA-based start-ups and small businesses collaborating with “at least one” international partner organisation.
“Providing support to companies in their early stages of development gives a better chance of success, and this is why we continue to support our State’s space industry,” said Stephen Mullighan, the state’s treasurer.
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“The international collaboration component of the fund encourages South Australian industry participation in the global space economy, widening the scope for innovation and further investment.”
An information session will be held on Wednesday, 30 October, for interested parties to learn more about the grant application and selection process.
In particular, the fund supports projects that are focussed on “proof-of-concept or delivery of space capability” and have a “clear commercial pathway”.
It comes after Space Connect reported on the last two projects to receive money from the scheme, which included a “distress beacon” for astronauts who get lost on the moon.
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The Safety from Space initiative, backed by NASA, will trial advanced satellite communications (SATCOM) capabilities that it’s hoped will be lighter to carry and more reliable than current devices.
It’s previously been described as a “lunar 911” and is one of two projects backed by the state government’s Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund.
Safety from Space founder Mark Rice said ensuring astronauts’ safe return in an emergency is critical to interplanetary exploration.
“Our collaboration with NASA has put Australia at the forefront of two-way communications for search and rescue, and we are extremely grateful for the funding from the South Australian government to make it possible,” he said.
The innovation effectively extends internet-like capabilities to the moon and is a collaboration with NASA, the Australian arm of The Mars Society, and a collective of Australian partners, including SmartSat CRC, UniSA and Flinders University.
If successful, the SA government said a trial could lead to a contribution to NASA’s Artemis program alongside emergency communication applications on Earth.
The second project to receive $100,000 was AICRAFT’s “Leoflect” that aims to create a lighter and smaller synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload, a type of radar used to create detailed images of the Earth’s surface.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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