Page 40 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

40 DEFENCE BUSINESS SPACE SURVEILLANCE
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
A COLLEGIATE APPROACH TO
SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS
In the recent past, Defence has noted the solution to its ongoing and sovereign Space Domain Awareness (SDA) needs will require a collegiate approach, including various capabilities and sensors spread around the country.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
THE IDEA is that the total capability delivered by the various components delivered under Defence’s JP9360 program – and beyond – will be greater than the sum of its individual parts. One organisation already embracing this collegiate ap- proach to the problem of detecting, identifying and tracking objects in space is Hensoldt Australia which, with the Uni-
versity of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government, is de- livering the Southern Guardian space surveillance system.
SOUTHERN GUARDIAN
Southern Guardian leverages Tasmania’s unique geo- graphical location, together with University of Tasmania’s academic horsepower and its range of sensors throughout Australia; and Hensoldt Australia’s C4ISREW capabilities in the space domain.
Southern Guardian is able to support both military and civilian space surveillance requirements, utilising the uni- versity’s 26-metre and 12-metre radio antennas at the Mt
Pleasant observatory near Hobart Airport; a 12-metre bi- static, multi-static and optical ground tracking station at Bisdee Tier, 70 km north of Hobart; and facilities at Kath- erine in the Northern Territory, Ceduna in South Australia and Yarragadee, near Geraldton in Western Australia.
The University of Tasmania formally opened an Austra- lian Space Agency funded 7.3-metre antenna at Greenhill Observatory outside Hobart on 31 January 2023. This new antenna is capable of tracking objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) as well as performing as one of the sensors in Aus- tralia’s first bi-static radar capability.
“The University of Tasmania has built a national network of sensors over the last 30 years or so, so we looked at how we could take that existing capability and investment over
ABOVE: Hensoldt Australia has signifi ant C4ISREW expertise in the space domain
HENSOLDT AUSTRALIA