Australian Space Agency

The Australian Space Agency is working to transform and grow a globally respected Australian space industry to lift the broader economy, inspire and improve the lives of Australians.  

For Australians every day, space-based technology provides essential data for what we’ve come to expect – everything from weather forecasting and emergency management to internet access, online banking, and simply knowing where we are. 

Space captures the imagination and inspires us all. It develops new technologies that improve life on Earth and it offers huge economic and job opportunities. Inspiring the next generation to take up STEM activities, grow career pathways and collaborate across industry, government and academia feeds into the broader work of the Agency now and into the future.

Australia has a lot to contribute — whether it’s putting satellites into orbit, or delivering healthcare to astronauts. By 2030, our goal is to triple the size of Australia’s space industry to $12 million dollars and create up to 20,000 new Australian jobs.  

This growth is important to Australia, not only for the creation of jobs, but because space technologies improve all our lives.

Read about Australia’s 10-year plan for the civil space sector in Advancing Space: Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028.  

Podcast: Space Week with Anthony Murfett

Dr Anthony Murfett, Deputy Head of the Agency, sat down with Dr Xavier Csar, our own CEO, for a conversation between two Doctors. What is the Australian Space Agency up to? How is it collaborating with NASA, and what’s all this we hear about a plan to get to Mars in the near future? 

That’s all one Anything But Square, the Fed Square podcast. Keep watching the skiiies… 

The Australian Space Discovery Centre

The Australian Space Discovery Centre will be Australia’s first national space education centre and will also house a state-of-the-art Mission Control Centre.

Set to open in 2021, the core mission of the Australian Space Discovery Centre is to inspire the next generation of the space workforce through stories of opportunity, curiosity and technology, underpinned by a strong STEM education focus.

It will do this through interactive exhibits, a career collaboration space, and Australia’s first Mission Control Centre.

As a visitor to the Centre, you can expect to:

• Immerse yourself in hands-on, interactive exhibits that share how space improves life here on Earth. The Centre will highlight Australia’s part of this story. Find it in the Space Exhibition.

• Learn about the space sector and find out what’s new. You will also discover career paths and jobs in the broadening space industry. Find it in the Careers and Information Hub.
• View screenings and live shows, and hear from guest speakers. Find it in the visitor viewing area at the Mission Control Centre.
• Directly engage with space industry businesses, start-ups and researchers through workshops, discussions and displays. Find it in the Industry Showcase.

Moon to Mars Initiative

The Moon to Mars initiative is focused on bringing together Australia’s unique capabilities from all industry sectors to accelerate the growth of the national civil space industry. 

• The result of a partnership with NASA on its inspiring plan to travel to the Moon and on to Mars.  
• A $150 million program to fuel the growth of Australian businesses so they can succeed in national and international space supply chains, and support NASA on its ambitious Moon to Mars endeavours.  
• Accelerating the growth of the Australian space sector by providing opportunities to enter supply chains, increasing demand for new capabilities, creating inspiration and enabling spin-out technologies for economic growth.  
• Helping achieve the Australian Space Agency’s goal of tripling the size of the national space industry to $12 billion and adding another 20,000 jobs by 2030. 

The Australian Space Agency Moon to Mars video will be available soon. In the meantime check out NASA’s plans for their Moon to Mars initiative ARTEMIS. 

NASA’s Artemis Project – Moon to Mars

With the Artemis program, NASA plan to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

They are collaborating with their commercial and international partners to establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade.

Then, they’ll use what they learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars!!