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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-09 Daily Xml
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CubeSat

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (15:31): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. Can the minister please update the chamber on the recent launch of a satellite from Cape Canaveral that was part funded by our state government?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:31): I thank the honourable member for her question and her ongoing interest and contribution to the science sector in our state. Back in 2012, the South Australian government awarded $300,000 toward the development of a CubeSat, a satellite that is about the size of a loaf of bread—no bigger than a big block—from the Premier's Research and Industry Fund. I suspect the honourable member may have been involved at the time this grant was awarded.

The satellite is one of 50 climate science CubeSats built by research bodies around the world through a collaborative project called QB50, which will carry out atmospheric research in the lower thermosphere, approximately 200 to 380 kilometres directly above the earth. The thermosphere is the least explored layer of the atmosphere, so this is incredibly important research that is likely to yield new insights into climate change, and it is a testament to the quality of our universities in South Australia that we have been able to be involved in this project.

Dr Matthew Tetlow, a scientist at the University of Adelaide, worked with a group of more than 40 undergraduate students from the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia to build the satellite, which includes two small measuring devices for atmospheric measurements and for their communications, in addition to the QB50 climate modelling payload.

In the early hours of Wednesday 19 April, some of these students gathered with Dr Tetlow to watch as their CubeSat was launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket from NASA's launch pad. Thankfully, after having been delayed due to technical problems with the rocket over the past few months, the launch was successful and the satellites are now on board the international space station.

Twenty-eight of the CubeSats will be deployed from the space station, including the satellite made right here in Adelaide by our university undergraduates. Once launched, data will be collected from this satellite up to three times a day through the University of South Australia's Institute for Telecommunications ground station at Mawson Lakes.

The success of the manufacture and launch of this satellite is something of which we can be very proud. Australia has a proud history in the space area. Our first satellite was launched in 1967, right here in South Australia at the Woomera test range, at the time making Australia the seventh nation to have an earth satellite launched and only the third nation to launch a satellite from its own territory in 1967, after the Soviet Union and the US.

The ability to build a functioning satellite is considered a mark of an advanced nation, but Australia has not built one for some 15 years, with the last functioning satellite made in this country—FedSat, a 58-kilogram microsatellite—having been launched from Japan in 2002. The QB50 mission, combining the work of universities around the world, is to demonstrate the possibility of launching a network of satellites that are low cost but can perform first-class scientific exploration and testing.

Its first aim, which has largely already been achieved, is to provide affordable access to space for small-scale research space missions and planetary exploration. Its second aim is to conduct scientific research over a series of months in a part of the atmosphere which has only been explored a very small number of times.

The success of South Australia's CubeSat design and manufacture is just the beginning of what is an emerging niche industry for this state. We have seen Fleet, a new space start-up, recently announce that it has managed to raise $5 million in venture capital as it moves towards building satellites that will connect Internet of Things devices around the world. In addition, last month the state government announced it would advocate for the establishment of an Australian space agency in Canberra, with South Australia as an operational centre.

South Australia is the natural home for this, with our strong ties to defence and our existing infrastructure and industries, particularly in manufacturing. At least 60 local organisations with space-related expertise or the potential to apply current expertise to the space value chain exist in our state. In addition, in September this year, Adelaide will host the International Astronautical Congress, which is set to attract around 4,000 international and local delegates, including the world's leading space agencies, making it one of the largest conferences ever held in this city and set to inject around $20 million into the local economy.

Australian space activity currently accounts for less than 1 per cent of the global estimated $US323 billion. Focusing on how we can support growth in the space sector, including the establishment of a national agency, will further add to our research capabilities and our advanced manufacturing in this state.

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