Australia’s new space command

Australia has copied the American model in creating a ‘space command’ to unify its space faring efforts and counter hostile actions by Russia and China in orbit around the Earth.

Australia’s strategic space update

Australia’s strategic space update should envision an ambitious future incorporating sovereign launch capacity and a composite space control program.

Asteroid hunting

Although the end of the world is far more likely to emerge from a Russian ICBM silo than the skies above at the moment, Australia can play a useful role in searching for potential planet killers from the asteroid belt.

We have liftoff

The $10bn James Webb telescope has left Earth on its mission to view the first stars to light up the Universe and perhaps find signs of extra-terrestrial life.

Space is the place – for war or peace

If a war in space does take place, the devastation would be long-lasting and perhaps irreversible. We must work towards civil and commercial activities that enhance capabilities and promote peace in space.

A new generation of private space stations

Commercial launch vehicles have begun to dominate operations to take payloads into orbit, and now private space stations are set to take to the skies.

Russia’s reckless anti-satellite test

In blowing up a satellite and endangering the space environment for decades to come, Putin’s aggressive and reckless regime has seriously damaged the prospects for meaningful progress in arms control in space.

Space invaders

Scientists warn that without good biosecurity measures ‘alien organisms’ on Earth may become a reality stranger than fiction.

Boosting space capabilities through AUKUS

A common AUKUS approach to rapid launch to reconstitute lost capabilities, as well as defensive space control to defend critical systems, would help safeguard against Russian and Chinese attacks on vital orbital systems.

The big picture

A series of satellites fitted with hyperspectral sensors could become a key component in Australia’s space capabilities, providing data with applications in climate science, disaster management, water resource monitoring, agriculture, and land use.

Australia needs a national space strategy

The Australian Space Agency released a civil space strategy in 2019, but Defence hasn’t followed suit. It’s time for a national space strategy to guide how Australia protects its security interests in a contested high frontier.

New satellite system would enhance water quality management

Analysis conducted at UNSW Canberra has demonstrated that a new space-based Earth observation system would be a valuable piece of infrastructure for monitoring and managing Australia’s inland and coastal waterbodies.