Login
iscover
The defence technology company has demonstrated its space traffic management capabilities alongside the University of Tasmania as part of an international civil-military exercise.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
HENSOLDT and the University of Tasmania have participated in SpaceFest – a national activity in which organisations are invited to showcase their ability to detect, track and catalogue objects orbiting Earth.
The activity, which forms part of the Southern Guardian Partnership, aims to build readiness to adverse events in the space domain.
The space traffic management exercise consisted of real and simulated events in which companies collaborated and competed to solve complex problems.
HENSOLDT’s participation involved “chasing” satellites identified by a central management cell, mapping and predicting their orbits and sharing information back into the central team.
Information collected was displayed on large screens in the University of Tasmania’s interim operations room, after being processed through HENSOLDT’s Space Battle Management System.
“SpaceFest is a fantastic opportunity for HENSOLDT and the university to showcase our unique nationwide sovereign SDA capabilities,” HENSOLDT Australia deputy CEO Scott Reeman said.
“The Southern Guardian Team is expertly playing a leading role in the development of this Australian national capability.”
The University of Tasmania’s dean of School of Natural Sciences, Professor Simon Ellingsen welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with other academic institutions, as well as government and private sector stakeholders from across the globe.
“This exercise is all about building our collective capacity in space domain awareness. We will be demonstrating the capabilities of the five radio telescopes we manage across Australia, which operate at a higher frequency than most and are able to retrieve very accurate information,” Professor Ellingsen said.
The activity is expected to inform operations led by the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) newly launched Space Command, supporting the identification and tracking of space-based threats.
Defence Space Command – a division of the Royal Australian Air Force – commenced operations last month.
The division includes personnel from all three services, as well as public servants and industry contractors.
Defence Space Command is expected to work alongside the Australian Space Agency, industry partners, and research and scientific institutions.
Among the responsibilities of Space Command will be supporting space domain awareness, sovereign controlled satellite communications, and space-based Earth observation and navigation.
[Related: Graduates complete HENSOLDT radar course]
