Ahead of her session at the Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025, Dr Joni Sytsma, Chief Technology Officer at the University of Southern Queensland iLAuNCH Program, discusses the growing synergies between space and defence, emphasising the role of dual-use technologies within the sector.
Synergies between space & defence
“All advanced technologies are inherently dual-use, and space technology is no exception,” Dr Sytsma told Space Connect.
As the defence sector drives innovation in space technologies, these advancements often extend beyond military use.
Dr Sytsma explains that “additional use cases that start as bespoke to the defence industry, such as non-earth imaging (NEI), can trickle down into civilian applications once they become available on the market.”
“Many of the capabilities required for space technology are inherently useful in other areas, such as power management and generation, advanced telecommunications, and imaging.”
However, she states that “the challenges of defence environments, such as austere and disconnected use cases, are heavily leveraged from satellites, as they are similarly disconnected telecommunication systems.”
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“A paradigm shift in satellite telecommunications has occurred over the past decade with a decided move away from geosynchronous orbit satellites that cost a billion dollars to develop, half billion dollars to launch, and over a decade to mature for a 30-year lifespan.”
Dr Sytsma explained that these “are being replaced by low earth orbit satellites costing less than 1/4 of a million and lasting less than five years.”
Low Earth orbit satellites, including those from Starlink, are set to replace expensive, slow-to-market geosynchronous satellites due to their lower cost and faster deployment.
“As these capabilities extend into the civilian sphere, Defence has certainly been right there to take notice and utilise these new low earth orbit capabilities.”
“This gives defence operators more options in providing operational sitcoms, and that will inevitably increase the resilience of overall capabilities,” she said.
Overcoming the challenges of dual-use technology
Dr Sytsma highlights the security challenges of adopting dual-use technologies, stating, “advanced technologies in the civilian sphere are typically not controlled for export, and this includes the nationality of the personnel developing them.”
“However, as you transition to dual-use technologies, there needs to be significant control of information and physical access to the technologies, particularly with our alignment of export controls with AUKUS.”
She states that “a significant challenge is that the nationality of the workforce must be overwhelmingly Australian, which needs to be enabled by an Australia-first education and employment system to provide the trained workforce necessary to develop and maintain these kinds of technologies.”
“This is partially enabled by scholarships and subsidised education programs, but also by a thriving ecosystem so that new graduates do not have to face the typical Australian dilemma of either going overseas to pursue a career in advanced technology or staying home and moving into the minerals or business sectors.”
Dr Sytsma also highlights that alongside workforce development, cybersecurity presents a critical challenge when adopting dual-use technologies, arguing that cybersecurity is now an underlying threat that crosses many different areas.
“Developing national excellence in cybersecurity is crucial not only for driving Australian businesses in the civilian sector but also for protecting any advanced technology and data on the defence side.”
Addressing these challenges requires ongoing investment in Australian education, workforce development, and cyber security defences.
Ethical considerations of dual-use technologies
As dual-use technologies continue to evolve, their strategic benefits and challenges become increasingly intertwined with complex ethical questions that must be considered.
Dr Sytsma explains that “ethics are a tricky subject in technology because the fundamental understanding of dual-use is that all good technologies can be used for military applications as well as civilian applications, with not many lines being drawn between the overall product.”
“It is inevitable that any advanced technology will be developed for whichever market segment is most profitable, and business success will be driven by which customer is paying the most,” she said.
“As geopolitical tensions rise, there will be an increasing importance placed on government spending on defence, which means more businesses will directly support the cause.”
“This will give rise to increased consternation and ethical concerns, but at the same time, it will enable domestic high-paying technology jobs in the sector,” Dr Sytsma said.
Though the economic benefits of this shift are clear, it also brings into focus Australia’s unique position in balancing defence spending with broader societal needs.
“Unlike the rest of the world, Australia has been afforded the luxury of spending a relatively small proportion of its budget on non-defence applications.”
“As geopolitical tensions rise, it will be inevitable that public spending will expand to protect our way of life,” she concluded.
The Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025
Now in its fourth consecutive year, the Australian Space Summit & Exhibition will gather the sector’s most influential decision makers across the public and private sphere, hosted in partnership with Principal Partner Space Centre Australia.
The inspiration session at the summit will share insights from successful programs that bridge students with real-world experience.
The transformative event will be held on 27 and 28 May at the ICC, Sydney.
Don’t miss a chance to hear from the brightest minds leading the development of Australia’s space industry. Click here to buy tickets.
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