TRANSCRIPT
In remote far-north Queensland, a rocket is on standby ready to launch Australia into a new era of spaceflight.
Named Eris and built by Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space Technologies, it will be the first Australian-made rocket to attempt orbital space launch.
Though Adam Gilmour, the company's CEO, is quick to temper expectations.
"It's a historic event, as I said I hope people don't expect we get to space on the first one. But it's a step in the process. We have enough money to do at least a couple more launches so as I said, this is just a really good step to get into orbit, and when we get into orbit, we are going to have a big party."
In November, Gilmour Space was given the green light to launch the 25-metre rocket from Bowen, a coastal town in Queensland's Whitsunday region.
The launch was originally planned for early 2024 but the company had been waiting for approval from the Australian Space Agency.
The authorisation, called an Australian launch permit, is the first ever issued by the Australian Government for a commercial orbital launch vehicle.
The approval has paved the way for the first test flight, which is scheduled for the the end of January.
Adam Gilmour says the hope is that the rocket will eventually be able to launch satellites into space.
"Satellites of all kinds, communications, observations, you name the application, and we can take it up. There's just so many countries that domestically, can't launch their satellites into space, so we're looking like a really good opportunity for a lot of our friendly neighbours, to launch their satellites as well as our own."
And as the world becomes increasingly reliant on satellites, another Australian company - Space Machines - has developed technology to respond to potential threats.
Rajat Kulshrestha is the CEO.
"As more satellites are being launched into space, there is a proliferation of things in space. And with that comes a number of problems. As satellites fail, it's creating debris, there's security threats, and they're increasing at an alarming rate.”
Enter the Optimus Viper, a spacecraft that uses AI to identify a potential malfunction or suspicious activity around critical space infrastructure.
Rajat Kulshrestha describes it as emergency response unit for satellites.
"We depend on space services in everyday life for our GPS, for our apps, for weather, for climate, we want to make sure that those things are protected. And to protect that, we've got to create a rapidly responsive solution where if something goes wrong in space, we can very quickly react to it in a cost-effective distributed manner in within 24 hours."
The spacecraft is designed to get within 10 kilometres of satellites 24 hours after dispatch, providing real-time monitoring and data that is relayed back to Earth.
For example, if a satellite of a major telco is down, Optimus Viper could investigate the problem.
It's hoped the technology will be adopted globally with the company planning to expand its Australian manufacturing capabilities to build the spacecrafts here at scale.
Optimus Viper and other local advancements will be showcased to the world in September, when around 10,000 delegates gather in Sydney for the largest annual space conference.
Enrico Palermo is the head of the Australian Space Agency.
"The International Astronautical Congress or otherwise known as the IAC is the world's premier and largest space event, and we're bringing it to Australian shores really just tell the story of how Australia uses space, how our space ecosystem has rapidly developed. In the last few years we've seen a rapid evolution of technology such as using lasers to communicate We've developed technologies on remote medicine. We've got space companies revolutionizing how we find critical minerals on earth supporting the green energy transition."
Australia is also set to build the nation’s first lunar rover that will go to the Moon with NASA later this decade.
The next phase of the mission is expected to create dozens of new jobs.
An industry ready to explore its potential.
