South Australia’s space sector is set to play a pivotal role in a landmark national satellite initiative, spearheaded by Optus and a national consortium of industry, academia and government partners.
The consortium, which includes iLAuNCH Trailblazer, HEO, Inovor Technologies and the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), is set to launch a sovereign Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite by early 2028.
The satellite will be designed and built by local space manufacturer, Inovor Technologies, at South Australia’s innovation precinct, Lot Fourteen, highlighting the leading role the state is playing in this national space project.
Nick Leake, Head of Satellite and Space Systems, at Optus said the collaboration marks a significant step forward for Australia’s capabilities in space-based connectivity and critical space domain awareness.
“By collaborating with Australia’s industry leaders across the public, private and academic sectors, we are able to further advance the use of technology to solve problems, fuel growth and define what’s next for the telco industry while supporting Australian businesses and Australian workers,” Leake said.
Inovor Technologies CEO Dr Matthew Tetlow said the project would strengthen the nation’s sovereignty in space by accelerating advanced satellite manufacturing and creating highly skilled jobs.
“This project is a great example of industry, academia and government coming together to develop groundbreaking space technologies to catapult the Australian space sector forward,” Dr Tetlow said.
“For Inovor Technologies, this represents a significant milestone in our strategy to build larger, more capable spacecraft using the success we’ve achieved on orbit as a foundation to deliver genuine Australian-made space capability.”
Adding to the state’s contribution to the project, the University of South Australia, supported by SmartSat CRC, will deliver one of two payloads, developed through the Australian Government’s iLAuNCH Trailblazer Universities Program.
The payload will support DSTG’s research into advanced satellite communications and enhance Australia’s capabilities in secure, high-bandwidth data transfer.
The other payload, led by Optus in partnership with HEO and the University of Southern Queensland, includes HEO’s new, specialised, space telescope designed to take high-resolution pictures of space objects, also known as non-earth imaging.
HEO Senior Partnerships Manager Joann Yap said the company was excited to advance Australian space domain awareness capability through its non-Earth imaging technology onboard the Adler payload.
“This collective effort is strategically designed to deliver robust, sovereign space solutions that benefit our nation and allies, and propel the entire Australian space industry forward,” Yap said.
Darin Lovett, Executive Director of iLAuNCH Trailblazer said the project represents a huge step forward in transforming Australia’s world class research to sovereign space capabilities for our nation.
“iLAuNCH, an Australian Government Department of Education Trailblazer program, is proud to have brought together incredible researchers from our partner universities to deliver the next generation of communications and advanced space-based observation,” Darin said.
Following launch in 2028, Optus intends to operate the spacecraft from its Belrose Space Operations Centre in Sydney.
