Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

46 DEFENCE BUSINESS ADM SPACE SUMMIT
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
NASA
Williams noted especially strong partnerships with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA. The former famously landed its returning Hayabusa2 cap- sule in the outback, which carried samples from the Ryugu asteroid collected during a six-year mission, while Austra- lia is participating in NASA’s return to the
that have been very detrimental to low orbits, and we’ve seen deliberate jamming of services to take commercial services off-air and deny communications capabilities,” he noted. “I think back to my days in uniform on JP 2008, Phases 1A and 2, around the use of the Optus B-series
Moon through the Artemis mission. Williams also noted the perennial work- force challenge affecting the space sector (as well as the defence sector). The ASA has been identifying shortages and future skill needs, and has been working to bring to- gether various stakeholders to come up with outcomes, though the gap continues to rise
as demand increases.
“We also need to bring home many of the
technical experts and innovators who are overseas,” she noted.
A RESILIENT SPACE ECOSYSTEM
David Ball, regional director for LMA Space, spoke to del- egates about technology trends towards a more resilient space ecosystem for military needs.
“We’ve seen some challenges in recent years, including rocket body break-ups at low altitudes, anti-satellite attacks
satellites. I remember arguing about how much speed we really needed, around 9 ki- lobits per second; it’s interesting to see how much things have changed today.”
Asked who the main customers in Aus- tralia for space services would be other than government, Ball said that while many Australian space start-ups are targeting mining and critical resource industries as customers, LMA is focused on the ‘whole picture of space’ from human spaceflight to military demands and is ‘ready for any
“WE ALSO NEED TO BRING HOME MANY OF THE TECHNICAL EXPERTS AND INNOVATORS WHO ARE OVERSEAS”
requirement’ that comes along.
Ball also noted that demands for mobility have increased
as well, particularly mobile Defence vessels seeking to
ABOVE: A NASA spacewalker prepares a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station