Defence said its Schools Pathways Program would enable the ten recipients to collaborate with schools and educational institutions to deliver innovative programs.
“The Schools Pathways Program and our partnerships with the industry and education sector are key to ensuring our students are equipped with the skills needed for the advanced and high-tech jobs of tomorrow,” said Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.
The federal government has granted $1.6 million to Fleet to support its LaunchBox program that provides teacher-led classroom lessons and works with students to build and launch an educational satellite.
The scheme, which you can read about here, aims to put the “wonders of space into students’ hands”.
“Through hands-on experiences, kids learn to construct 3D nanosatellites, launch them into the stratosphere using balloons, and retrieve the image(s) for review,” said Fleet.
AROSE, meanwhile, has been granted $1.7 million for its AVISTA program, which aims to reach 200 schools and engage students, parents and teachers through virtual reality experiences and defence career summits.
“The Albanese Government recognises the essential contributions that Australian businesses and educational institutions make to training and developing the talent pipeline we needed by our defence industry,” added Conroy.
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“With these grants the Albanese Government is supporting the defence industry by strengthening our nation’s future STEM capable workforce and continuing our investment in a future made in Australia.”
Other non-space winners included the With You With ME program, which supports the Defence Industry Pathways Program, and MEGT Australia, which provides school-based traineeships and apprenticeships in naval shipbuilding.
Further details of all awarded grants can be found on the GrantConnect website.
Fleet Space Technologies has already established itself as one of Australia’s most valuable space companies, with its success linked to its technology that can detect minerals underground from space.
In December, it announced a huge funding round that generated $150 million from investors, following previous rounds that brought in $5 million, $35 million and $50 million.
Just last month, it launched two new spacecraft – Centauri-7 and Centauri-8 – that blasted off as part of SpaceX’s huge Transporter 12 rideshare mission.
AROSE was one of two consortiums in the running to create Australia’s upcoming lunar rover, though lost out to winning bidder ELO2.
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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