NASA<\/a> found for every million dollars spent on labour, $6.8 million was generated for the US economy. And for every million dollars\u2019 worth of output generated by the US space service, a healthy $8 million of output was generated for goods and services in the general economy.<\/p>\n\u201cSpace is always evolving. There\u2019s always new tech around the corner. I mean, [Elon Musk] is a trillionaire now. That\u2019s huge for the industry. We can have a slice of that pie if we build the industry up further and put more effort into it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a sentiment shared by professor Alan Duffy from Swinburne University. The astronomer said Australia\u2019s vast geography and sparsely populated areas are perfect for launch and recovery missions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge advantage for Australia,\u201d Prof Duffy told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have potential launch sites close to the equator, so you take advantage of the Earth\u2019s rotation to achieve your escape velocities and save fuel, thus reducing costs. Beyond our geographic advantage, we\u2019re also a stable nation. We offer a law-abiding, rules-based site for investment for foreign companies and nations to launch from. All of those advantages, however, are also tied to the workforce and we have a very large technical and educated population that can leverage these benefits. That\u2019s the good news.\u201d<\/p>\n
But decades of intermittent government funding and a lack of direction and purpose has hobbled Australia\u2019s nascent space industry.<\/p>\n
Prof Duffy said that \u201cevery 20 or so years, it seemed we had another opportunity as a nation\u201d to build our space industry \u2013 but that the government of the day, whether it be Liberal or Labor, would ultimately decide against supporting it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a bipartisan issue in which we have support that is not consistent over the decade-plus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re thinking of building a space port, a rocket company or a satellite company and all the products and services that come from space, from weather forecasting to bushfire monitoring, to disaster relief and provision of secure communication for those people that are stranded in those regions, you need to know there will still be a market and support from government 10 years in, because that\u2019s the amount of time it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Be more daring\u2019<\/p>\n
One way the government can achieve that is by making sure we can independently develop, control and sustain the space industry without significant foreign interference \u2013 a strategy commonly known as sovereign capability.<\/p>\n
This includes onshoring supply chains, investing in Australian businesses and producers, building our own satellites, space weapons and rockets and creating a \u201cnational mission\u201d which corrals both government and industry behind a central aim to get us into space.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just about conquering space, Prof Duffy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to ensure there is a satellite watching our nation during the next bushfire season, it has to be our satellite. We currently rely on others and they are not pointed at this nation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
But attitudes are changing, according to the professor. In a clear sign of the importance of space to national security, the Australian Defence Force launched the country\u2019s very first Space Command in 2022, tasked with leading space-related operations.<\/p>\n
The government has also established a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund which Aussie space firms can tap into, and already have: $75 million went towards helping Gilmour Space Technologies to develop Eris, an Australian made rocket the company launched from its orbital spaceport at Abbot Point in North Queensland. <\/p>\n
Another $10 million went to Hypersonix Launch Systems to test, develop and manufacture hypersonic aircraft, while another $75 million went towards helping Aussie companies scale up and expand their manufacturing base.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Katherine Bennell-Pegg is the first qualified professional astronaut to train under the Aussie flag \u2013 and she could soon be taking part in a mission to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
But experts say this is still not enough, and more focus and investment from the government is needed if the country\u2019s space industry is ever truly going to take off.<\/p>\n
That means being daring and risk-taking, Prof Duffy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important to recognise how hard space is. We say this all the time. Every company will experience setbacks. The important thing is you recognise that and you ensure you have the resolve to continue to reap the benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpaceX lost countless rockets at the start \u2013 I think literally half a dozen rockets blew up \u2013 and now it\u2019s a $2 trillion company. You don\u2019t succeed without taking risks. They have to be carefully managed, and considered, but, if we want to grow as a nation, we have to be more daring.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the minister for industry and innovation, Tim Ayres, said: \u201cAustralia\u2019s domestic space industry plays a role in strengthening our national resilience and securing our future in a more competitive global environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the most recent Budget, the Australian government\u2019s commitment to Australian space is clear with $21.7 million to ensure the Australian Space Agency continues to perform its policy and leadership role for Australia\u2019s space industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to this, the Albanese Labor government has invested over $150 million in the domestic space industry through the National Reconstruction Fund over the past 12 months, building domestic capability and crowding-in private capital to grow the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s \u201chuge advantage\u201d in one surprising industry could bring endless economic growth \u2013 but we could miss out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-765888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}