Page 23 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 21

FEBRUARY – MARCH 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
DEFENCE BUSINESS SPACE SUMMIT 23
“If you’re trying to outsmart me, you’re not a partner,” Brown warned. “If you want to help me deliver capability the warfighter needs, you’re a partner.”
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Sascha Hapke, Head of Australasia De- fence and Space for Airbus, opened with a hopeful glimpse of post-pandemic normal- ity – “even though the air transport indus- try is going through an unprecedented cri- sis, we’re confident the market will bounce back” – and then provided delegates with an overview of Team Maier, which is Air- bus’ industry team for its bid for Joint Proj- ect (JP) 9102 to provide a complete De- fence Satellite Communications System.
“Team Maier is Airbus’ effort to collabo- rate with Australian SMEs to support a sovereign space industry, drive innovation and R&D, support local companies in the defence market, and open new business op- portunities beyond Australia,” Hapke said.
Another highlight was Adam Gilm- our, founder of launch company Gilmour
Space, who welcomed the government’s en- thusiasm for space.
“I don’t know what’s happened to the gov- ernment. It’s like someone injected them with a ‘space virus’,” Gilmour said. “It’s great.”
However, Gilmour emphasised the need for both government and industry invest- ment in R&D.
“There isn’t enough manufacturing - if you want sovereign capability, you have to make it,” he said. “The Americans spend nine per cent of their total defence budget on R&D. We spend 1.5 per cent. I used to be an investment banker. I spotted trends. There’s an easy spend to spot here.”
“IF YOU’RE TRYING TO OUTSMART ME, YOU’RE NOT A PARTNER,” BROWN WARNED. “IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME DELIVER CAPABILITY THE WARFIGHTER NEEDS, YOU’RE A PARTNER.”
He was also coy about his company’s potential to contribute to hypersonics pro- grams, saying only that there was ‘plenty of potential.’”
Other launch companies, including Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) and Rocket Lab, provided updates on their progress. NZ-based Rocket Lab is actu- ally the world’s second-busiest commercial launch operator after SpaceX.
“Crawl, walk, run, fly, go to the Moon, go beyond,” Scott Wallis, the founder of ELA, said. “We have a 30 year plan with traditional owners to grow our site. We have access to more land than the Ken- nedy Space Centre. With their support, we can create a capability for humankind.”
As in previous years, the core mes- sage from the 2020 ADM Space Sum- mit was that Australia’s space industry set to grow in leaps and bounds, capi- talising on an international sector that is expected to be worth $1.1 trillion by 2040, according to Australian govern- ment predications. ■
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