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iLAuNCH Trailblazer has announced a new partnership with Deloitte Australia to encourage the connection of Australian research and development with international organisations to collaboratively develop and commercialise Australian space technologies.
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Building on the local Trailblazer program, which developed Australia’s space capabilities by fostering partnerships between universities and industry, the iLAuNCH Global Pathfinder Program will extend this concept to a larger international market.
The expansion is expected to open opportunities for domestic research and businesses, effectively propelling their research capabilities onto a global platform.
The partnership with Deloitte and three iLAuNCH Trailblazer universities – the University of Southern Queensland, the Australian National University and the University of South Australia – is expected to transform how iLAuNCH engages with industry, alongside more than 30 invested commercial partners.
“Australia ranks in the top echelons for developing intellectual property, but we don’t capitalise well to commercialise. The Australian government created the Trailblazer Universities Program to overcome this, providing AU$370 million of dedicated investment to accelerate Australia’s innovation agenda at speed and at scale,” iLAuNCH Trailblazer executive director Darin Lovett said.
“This Global Pathfinder program is innovative in its vision and approach, emulating international space ecosystems for space technology to export our world-class innovation into a global market.”
Leveraging Deloitte’s global network, phase one will identify and solicit interest from international organisations interested in space research and development to co-develop the Global Pathfinder Program.
“Deloitte has a long-standing commitment to developing Australia’s space ecosystem and promoting a unified global approach to the development of the space ecosystem. We welcome this opportunity to work with iLAuNCH Trailblazer and expand the work we already do with the Australian higher education system,” Deloitte Australia Space partner Byron Riessen said.
“We continue to demonstrate this commitment through initiatives like the successful GRAVITY Challenge, founded by Deloitte in 2019, which now operates globally from Australia.”
In an international arena of competition, the iLAuNCH Global Pathfinder Program will provide Australian space research and development with an outlet to showcase world-class Australian innovation, adding to the $140 million already committed to the various iLAuNCH Trailblazer projects over the past year.
The Global Pathfinder will open doors for Australian companies to access international markets and connect expertise across Australia, supporting further growth in the space industry, according to the partnership.
Upon completion of the first phase, iLAuNCH expects to announce the successful international partners in the Global Pathfinder Program in late 2024.
