Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 153, part 1, 2020, pp. 58–60. ISSN 0035-9173/20/010058-03

The Australian Space Agency

Megan Clark Head, Australian Space Agency Email: [email protected]

Introduction know as a small country we simply cannot t is absolutely an honour to be here for do that without the global partnerships that Ithe Royal Society of New South Wales we will need to participate in. This is one of and the Joint Academies Forum in what is the most commercially focused purposes of a very timely and important gathering, and any space agency in the world. I appreciate the chance to be able to be here. There are some very important values that I also pay my respects to the knowledge and we used to establish the Australian Space traditions of the Gadigal people of the Eora Agency. We wanted to be known as a respon- Nation. sible citizen in space. We felt there was a real What I wanted to do today was give you role for us, not just globally, but also in our a quick update of where we are with the region over time to be that very important Australian Space Agency. I also wanted to voice for a rules-based order in space and to turn my attention to the recent announce- do our bit at the global table. ment by the Prime Minister that Australia We have the entrepreneurship, we have would join the United States on the “return the “can do” attitude, we absolutely have the to the Moon and on to Mars.” ideas and the talent, we have the capacity to run through the legs of giants — we’ve Establishing just got a little bit of catching up to do, and the Australian Space Agency these are some of the values that absolutely Nations establish space agencies for many run through the Agency. different reasons. It may be to demonstrate In terms of what we’re responsible for, global dominance in technological develop- it is civil space policy and strategy for the ment. Other countries look to the inspira- regulatory piece. We coordinate civil space tional capacity of science, and we’re seeing activities, and we are also looking to inspire that now with India inspiring a whole new and engage the Australian community. This nation of young graduates coming forward is within the broader context of supporting in that country. The Australian Govern- the growth of the Australian space industry, ment’s case was absolutely clear that the and not just growth, we truly want to see and purpose here was to diversify our economy. facilitate, and encourage and catalyse as much I think we’ve been surprised as well by the as possible a transformation of the industry. capacity of space to inspire this country. Year one for So we set ourselves the purpose of trans- the Australian Space Agency forming and growing Australia’s space industry, to lift the broader economy and One of the first things we needed to do was improve the lives of all Australians. We to modernise our legislation. Very early on,

58 Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales Clark — The Australian Space Agency after the establishment of the Agency in July, next few years — we’re already at $1.6 billion in August 2018 our team managed to update of forward-projected capital project pipe- the Civil Space Act into the Space Activities line, and that includes R&D investment, Amendment for Launches and Returns. A couple and $700 million of that is inbound capital. of key things in there: we needed to make If we looked at that two years ago, it was sure our rules and laws covered the launch of literally just a couple of hundred million. So spacecraft from aircraft, something it didn’t this investment of capital is also the world actually anticipate, and also high-powered and others taking the signal from the Aus- rockets. The Agency has been in consulta- tralian Government and the stimulus that tion around the country and has written the we’re seeing around the states and territo- rules for that, and we’re now working with ries, and saying Australia is serious about space. As a result, it has created a good plat- the industry on implementing those rules. form for investment. We set ourselves the goal of engaging the One of the things that the nation told us nation. We actually set ourselves the goal is to do what is not being done. We love what of five million Australians in our first year CSIRO is doing, we love what Geoscience would hear, see or read about the Agency. Australia is doing, we even like what ACMA We felt that one in five was actually a pretty is doing (the regulator), but we need one good target, but we blew past that literally in door. We need one door, one voice — we’re the first few weeks. By October 2019 we now missing out on these opportunities that can have touched 110 million Australians. Now, I truly only be brokered from government to know we don’t have 110 million Australians; government and through agency to agency. it means that people are seeing and hearing We’re now partnering with multiple about this new endeavour multiple times. agencies around the world. That’s as well as Importantly, if you’re going to transform the most recent agreements that we’ve had an industry, you need to get out to where the in the last month with New Zealand, DLR, industry is which is in the states and territo- and we’ve updated as well with ESA and the ries. We have worked very extensively with Italians. So we really are starting to open the Premier’s and First Minister’s Office doors for the purpose of our researchers and in each of the states and territories. In fact industry to walk through those doors. in our first year, every 12 weeks myself, my We’re at the cusp of a transformation deputy and a team visited every state and ter- from the investment in space by govern- ritory to engage in that dialogue because the ments. Decades ago it was 80 per cent gov- states and territories themselves need to have ernment funding, 20 per cent commercial. strategies for the growth of high-tech jobs. That has now completely flipped around We set ourselves the goal of stimulating and we’re seeing government still having a an investment of $2 billion into the space very significant role here. We’re seeing the sector, a billion of which we wanted to come commercial entities now dominating the from outside Australia into the country. This investment, and we’re seeing the industri- was not about moving around money inside alisation of low-Earth orbit in itself, so we the country because it’s the investment of knew we needed a mechanism to be able to capital in the sector that truly grows jobs. join together with industry partners to be We set ourselves that goal to do that in the able to grow and transform this industry.

59 Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales Clark — The Australian Space Agency

As part of this we formed the Statements • Access to space: when we first started it was of Intent and Cooperation. These basically like “It’s not about rockets,” but it is about outline our strategy, and ask industry what rockets now. they are going to do to support the objec- In terms of the NASA announcement, we tives of the Agency, what they are going to will join NASA to “return to the Moon and do to invest in internships in R&D and in on to Mars.” It’s a $150 million program over establishing facilities here in Australia, and five years. We’ll do demonstrator projects what they are going to do to stimulate jobs. I that showcase our capabilities. We’ll also think these have helped generate that inter- work on some very significant major pro- est that we’re seeing and the investment. jects and support access of companies and researchers into the supply chains. National civil space priorities One of the key things of going back to the We are a small country, so we need to focus Moon and Mars will be the search for water. on those things that work well for us and You need an awfully big rocket now to do where our competitive advantage is. this. One of the rockets; the Space Launch • First of all; position navigation and timing. System, is a payload of 26 tonnes. This is the Australia has made the commitment to NASA program Artemis 1 first of all orbit- bring our positioning in our maritime, our ing the Moon, so taking human spacecraft, land and our airspace up to 10 centime- then taking humans in an orbit around the tres accuracy. Importantly, the decision to Moon, then building out the components move to precise positioning in our capital of the Gateway, the power propulsion, the cities where we can take additional cor- human habitat, and then also making sure rections from the mobile phone towers that there’s a lunar lander on there. Then and get down to perhaps three to four cen- Artemis 3 will be the crewed mission to the timetres. That means you can automate Gateway and the lunar surface from 2024. transport, you can do all sorts of things, The next phases of this, and Australia has so a really wonderful start to that invest- the capacity to join in this up to Artemis 7, ment. Geoscience Australia will do that. this is really living and working now on the • Earth observation: the next generation of Moon and testing those technologies and communication, laser optics, laser radio, things that we will need to go to Mars. In some extraordinary work there. December 2013 the LADEE mission noticed that there was water vapour coming particu- • Space situational awareness: taking our larly connected with meteorite showers, so role here in the Southern Hemisphere as one of the first tasks of the mission to the important. Moon will be to see if we can tap into that • Leapfrog R&D: was actually a grab bag for water that sits possibly below the surface. all of the things that we’re really good at, but we need to be world class and out Conclusion there in the supply chains. Overall, we’re working very hard to build an • Robotics and automation: a clear leader for Agency of which Australia, hopefully, will Australia. be proud. Thank you.

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