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Eight leading Australian companies have banded together in a new “alliance” to boost the country's defence industry space capability, dubbed the Australian Defence Industry Space Capability Alliance (ADISCA).
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The group includes pioneers such as Gilmour Space Technologies, Nova Systems, Southern Launch, DEWC Systems, Inovor Technologies, Neumann Space, REDARC Defence Systems and Space Machines Company.
The move creates a "genuine sovereign response" to the Commonwealth's call for Australian industry to provide its "expertise" to further its defence and national interests in space, according to Ian Spencer, chief executive officer at DEWC Systems.
The ASIDCA was unveiled at the 13th Australian Space Forum on Thursday in Adelaide.
The collective capabilities of the members include:
- Launch vehicle design and manufacture
- Space vehicle design and manufacture
- Payload design and manufacture
- In-space propulsion
- In-space transportation
- Launch services and mission control services
- Supporting commercial, civil and defence sectors.
Spencer said the members will work together to develop “cutting-edge space and defence technologies” that will be utilised for Australia’s interests in space.
The move comes months after Australia’s defence industry set out new strategic priorities in September.
Priorities include robotics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, space, hypersonic weapons, information warfare and cyber capabilities.
Australia has committed to bolstering the industry in recent years and is set on providing 20,000 new jobs by 2030 within the sector.
It follows a similar move in September when 30 Australian companies and universities pushed a $150 million bid to the federal government to establish new space facilities in Queensland.
The group is proposing to enhance homegrown capabilities through the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) Collaboration Stream – a $1.3 billion project announced in 2020.
It is under the Australian Space Manufacturing Network (ASMN), which is spearheaded by Gilmour Space Technologies, a rocket and satellite manufacturer, and backed by the Queensland government.
It comes as many industry leaders have touted that Australia requires a “whole of” space industry that combines government, institutions, and companies together to gain traction from international investors, and to become global pioneers of the sector.
