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The organisations have agreed to collaborate to develop new space technology, set to launch in 2023.
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Macquarie University’s Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) has signed an agreement with manufacturer Gilmour Space Technologies, which involves the construction and delivery of a thermal camera payload.
The sovereign space technology is set to be integrated into a Gilmour Space satellite which is set to launch in late 2023 as part of an all-Australian payload sensor suite — Macquarie’s inaugural contribution in the “New Space” era.
“The data collected from the thermal camera payload will allow the exploration of a new approach to collecting imaging data,” project lead Dr Lee Spitler from AAO Macquarie explained.
“The agreement marks an exciting new chapter for the AAO, as our team of experts can expand their skills and remits to support the growing interest in space exploration.”
Shaun Kenyon, the program manager for satellites at Gilmour Space, welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with Macquarie.
“This is going to be a new Australian-made thermal space imager, which could be used for many different applications, including water quality monitoring, bushfire detection, weather monitoring, and more,” Kenyon said.
This collaboration comes just weeks after Gilmour Space completed the final set of qualification tests for its Sirius rocket engine.
The successful test of the hybrid rocket engine comes ahead of Gilmour Space’s planned launch of its Eris rocket next year.
Gilmour’s Eris rocket will be powered by five of the Sirius rocket engines when it takes off next year.
The launch of the Eris rocket will be the first attempt at an orbital launch by an Australian-designed and constructed rocket.
The Sirius engine is a hybrid rocket engine, which uses both a liquid oxidiser and a proprietary solid fuel and is a game changer according to Gilmour.
[Related: Gilmour unveils 3D rocket engine]
