In-space logistics provider Space Machines Company (SMC) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to test the deployment of nanosatellites from A.
Adam Gilmour, founder and chief of Gilmour Space Technologies. Source: Supplied.
Gilmour Space blasted onto the tech pages with news of its $61 million raise this morning, proving the Aussie space scene is attracting interest and big cheques.
It’s the latest in a string of huge funding announcements for local startups. But it also follows an uptick in activity in the Aussie space tech scene.
RMIT is set to launch a space hub to support businesses seeking satellite data, and the Australian National University has secured a $2.5 million grant to establish infrastructure for space testing facilities.
The Moonshot space tech incubator announced back in November that it was backing 11 space startups, including both Aussie and international ventures.
Date Time
UNSW startup to launch camera into space
HEO Robotics is teaming up with Space Machines Company to launch an on-orbit inspection camera into space.
HEO Robotics Founders Dr Hiranya Jayakody and Dr Will Crowe. Photo: UNSW.
UNSW Sydney startup HEO Robotics’ space camera is scheduled to launch onboard Optimus, the nation’s largest satellite delivery vehicle developed by Space Machines Company, early next year.
The space camera, named ‘Potoroo’, is HEO Robotics’ first fully owned space-based camera to acquire high quality imagery of valuable assets in space.
Images captured by the camera help satellite owners and operators better understand the health status of their assets and accelerate the process of resolving any issue occurring on their satellites.
Space Machines Company, an Australian in-space transportation provider, has signed a deal with
Fireball International to deploy its bushfire detection satellite into its final orbit on board Space Machines Company’s orbital transport, Optimus-1, in 2022. The company announced the deal on Tuesday. This is Space Machines’ first customer agreement.
This agreement aims to strengthen Australia’s defense against extreme weather events, and it is another example of the developing space market in Australia. The Space Machines orbital transport vehicle Optimus-1 for this mission will be launched by Australian launch company
“We are proud to enable this vital and pioneering Australian space technology deployment. The fact that three Australian companies are joining to accomplish this vital mission is evidence of a growing sovereign industrial capability in space technology in our country,” Space Machines Company founder and CEO Rajat Kulshrestha said in a statement.
Australian Space Taxi Can Detect Bushfires Within 3 Minutes
Three Australian space companies have united to launch a bushfire satellite into space inside a space taxi with the key mission to detect and track bushfires. The technology, which is the work of Queensland-based company Fireball International, can detect and report on bushfires less than three minutes after they start.
It provides automated bushfire detection and tracking by analysing images from sensors in real-time and sends notifications and maps to emergency responders after detecting a fire.
“This is an Australian-built taxi, which will bring an Australian-built satellite which looks for fires and has a national interest, which is launched by an Australian-built rocket and from an Australian spaceport in Queensland,” Fireball International chief executive Christoper Tylor told InnovationAus.