Southern Space - 18 March

Southern Space is a weekly newsletter produced by SIAA to inform the Australian space industry

Industry News

Kanyini Milestone: Adelaide-built satellite Kanyini successfully completed its Environmental Stress Screening?(ESS) and full System Integration Review ahead of the satellite’s official launch in mid-2024. Kanyini demonstrated exceptional performance, remaining fully operational during the two-week test at the National Space Test Facility at the Australian National University. The Kanyini mission is a collaboration between the South Australian Government, SmartSat CRC as mission lead, SIAA Member Inovor Technologies, and Myriota.?

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Starship Third Test Flight: SpaceX’s Starship rocket successfully lifted off on its third test flight, achieving several milestones for the company and making substantial progress from SpaceX’s two previous flights. On March 14, the spacecraft?launched from southeast Texas, eventually disintegrating on a landing burn that did not function correctly upon re-entry. ?

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Fleet Space Successful Demonstration: SIAA Member Fleet Space Technologies has successfully demonstrated satellite-enabled Push-to-Talk (PTT) capabilities for the Australian Defence Force Joint Capabilities Group as part of the company’s ASCEND2LEO program. In a live demonstration hosted by the Defence Science & Technology Group, Fleet successfully delivered a software update to the company’s Centauri satellite while in orbit. ?

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Rocket Lab Launch Milestone: SIAA Member Rocket Lab recently completed a mission for Japanese satellite data and solution provider?Synspective, additionally marking the launch of the company’s 45th Electron rocket. Rocket Lab successfully deployed a fourth synthetic aperture radar satellite to Synspective’s Earth-observation constellation. ?

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RMIT Metamaterial Developed: Researchers at SIAA Member RMIT University have developed an artificial ‘metamaterial’, made from common titanium alloy, forming a super strong material that could be used to create rocket componentry. The researchers utilised 3D printing to create this material, which is currently resistant to temperatures as high as 350 degrees. ?

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Gilmour and Frond Space Sign Contract: SIAA Member Gilmour Space Technologies has signed a contract with New Zealand-based space company Frond Space Systems. Under the contract, Frond will supply the company’s MICRO dragsail system?for Gilmour Space's MMS-1 satellite mission. Gilmour’s MMS-1 mission is scheduled for launch in early 2025. ?

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SKA-Low Telescope: The first antennas have been installed on site at the SKA-Low Telescope in Western Australia. SKA-Low is being developed to become the world’s largest radio telescope, with another counterpart telescope in construction in South Africa. ?

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Japan:?Space One, a Japan-based space company, attempted the launch of the company’s Kairos rocket on 13 March, attempting to?become the first Japanese private launch company to reach orbit. Seconds after liftoff, however, the spacecraft burst into flames after the rocket autonomously executed an abort command. ?

Industry Opportunities

Webinar: Broadening Space Partnerships between Italy and Australia?

Join SIAA to learn about the Italian space ecosystem and to uncover potential collaboration opportunities with the Australian space ecosystem in the upcoming webinar on 'Broadening Space Partnerships between Italy and Australia' from 6-7pm AEDT Thursday 21 March.?

This webinar is jointly organised by the Space Industry Association of Australia, the Australian Space Agency and Investment NSW together with the ITA - Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Space Agency.?

Key connections identified in the webinar can further be explored and deepened in the lead up to the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Milan 2024 (14-18 Oct 2024) and IAC Sydney 2025 (29 Sep-3 Oct 2025).?

Register here?

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INNOspace Masters 2024?

INNOspace Masters is an international innovation competition organised by the German Space Agency at DLR in cooperation with ESA, Airbus and OHB. The competition promotes ideas for the transfer of technology and expertise from other industries to the space sector (spin-ins/New Space) or from space to non-space sectors (spin-offs) in order to set new impulses for the next space generation. The competition is open to companies of all sizes, start-ups, research institutions and universities, as well as individuals from all over the world. The theme of the 2024 challenge is: Space up your Life – Innovations for a smarter Earth and Space. ?

See here for more information and how to apply. ?

Submissions close April 23, 2024.?

Upcoming Events

IAC2025 Space Sector Workshop Melbourne??

Where: Melbourne CBD??

When: Tuesday 30th April, 2pm – 4pm AEDT??

SIAA invites the Victorian space community to join us for an industry workshop to assist SIAA in shaping IAC2025 in Sydney.???

Please email [email protected] to register.

IAC2025 Space Sector Workshop Canberra

Where: Canberra CBD

When: Monday 22nd April, 2pm – 4pm AEDT

SIAA invites the ACT space community to join us for an industry workshop to assist SIAA in shaping IAC2025 in Sydney.

Please email [email protected] to register.

Job Opportunities

View new job postings on SIAA’s Southern Space Jobs Board to see what job opportunities are available in the space industry.

SIAA members can advertise job positions for free on the Southern Space Jobs board. For more information, please email [email protected]

Want to feature your industry update in the Southern Space Newsletter? Email [email protected]

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Header Image Credit: Clouds Off the California Coast (NASA, ISS, 30-08-13)