Page 14 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2019
P. 14

DEFENCE BUSINESS
SPACE
ADM Space Summit:
Defence and space industry intersect
EWEN LEVICK | CANBERRA
ADM’S first Space Summit took place in Canberra on April 30, attracting government and industry leaders to present on the local space sector and its intersection with Defence.
Attendees and speakers included: Dr Megan Clark, head of the Australian Space Agency; Luke Brown, Assistant Secretary of the new Space and Communications Branch for Defence; Valentin Merino, head of Defence and Space Australasia for Air- bus; Adam Gilmour, founder of Gilmour Space Technology; Scott Wallis, founder of Equatorial Launch Australia; and Prof Craig Smith, CEO of EOS Space Systems.
Deputy Head of the Australian Space Agency Anthony Murfett opened proceed- ings with a look at developments in space over the past year, including Japan’s Ha- yubasa 2 landing on an asteroid, NASA’s Voyager 2 entering interstellar space, Chi- na’s Chang’e-4 landing on the far side of the moon, and of course, the first image of a black hole.
Murfett also spoke on the role of the Agen- cy in nurturing Australia’s space presence.
“We’re here to provide policy and strate- gic advice to government and to coordinate our environment. Having an agency means we can be a conduit for understanding what
opportunities are out there,” Murfett said. “The other path we know is important is navigating the blurred relationship between Defence and civil space capabilities. If we’re able to grow Australian industry that means we grow capabilities for the whole
ecosystem, including Defence.”
Luke Brown, Assistant Secretary of
Space and Communication Branch for De- fence, also spoke despite being in the newly- formed role for less than 24 hours.
“My position, my existence, is evidence of a changing view of how we deal with the space environment in Defence,” Brown said. “I’ve got instructions to work with other ar- eas to make sure we’re all coherent and have a program of work that we can all understand.
“So much of what we’re doing is about as- surance of the capability. The environment is contested. That’s what’s different. That’s why I now exist. It’s not so much about what we use it for, but more about how we keep access to it.”
Brown emphasised that solving Defence’s space-related problems is a cooperative effort. “Mypartofthejobistobegoodatde- scribing to you what our capability prob- lems are. It’s not my job to work out what to buy. It’s for us to work together to find the
solution,” Brown said.
ASPI’s Dr Malcom Davis took the po-
dium to give a strategic perspective on
space capabilities and how Australia can best prepare.
“There’s been a change in thinking and discussions since the Agency was stood up about establishing a sovereign space segment – its not just about continuing a ground-based space segment but operating in space ourselves,” Dr Davis said. “For the first time in my lifetime, we’re actually do- ing something really significant. I don’t see us going back to the apathy of past policy.
“We need to sustain and accelerate the momentum of developing space expertise in this country, and that means getting people excited about space. Young people want to see rockets, so ground-based space capabili- ties won’t cut it.”
Adam Gilmour of Gilmour Space gave an indication of the conversations his company is having with Defence and foreign militar- ies about how their capabilities can meet threats posed to military space ISR and comms systems.
“We spend a lot of time talking to militar- ies about tactical satellite replenishment,” Gilmour said. “The vehicle we’re developing can launch within 24 hours and re-establish communications and hopefully in the fu- ture some kind of GPS capability as well.”
Scott Wallis of Equatorial Launch Aus- tralia highlighted how his company is working with Indigenous landowners as they seek to capitalise on Australia’s prox- imity to the equator.
“I’ve made it a priority to work with Indig- enous landowners. Their priority is their chil- dren,” Wallis said. “They just want jobs for the future and the opportunity to go to school.”
An engaging presentation came from Dr Nikki Coleman, a space military ethicist at UNSW Canberra.
“We think about space war being con- ducted in space. But in reality our uses of space are quite different,” Dr Coleman said. “Our use of space in the military is reliance. We use it for comms, navigation, logistics. That causes earthly problems.”
Over 120 delegates gathered at ADM's inaugural Space Summit, with Defence, government and space industry people sharing the experience.
14 | June 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ADM DAVID JONES


































































































   12   13   14   15   16