The Australian Space Agency is planning to add more space situational awareness capabilities through local suppliers as it prepares for a jump in launch and return operations.
On Monday, the civil space regulator issued a request for information on capabilities that can track, monitor, and manage risk, to meet the increased activity safely, reliably, and in a globally competitive way.
The request for information on space situational awareness (SSA) technology follows a call out last week for assistance with the assessment of launch permits and other space activity.
The Australian Space Agency (ASA) is asking for information on hardware, software, analytical, and operational support that can monitor all stages of flight as well as payload deployment and landing.
The federal government will also use the information to inform policy development of a safe and sustainable launch and returns industry.
In its latest request for information, the ASA said it is “interested in mature capabilities that can be trialled in concert with launch or return events, particularly capabilities at a Technology Readiness Level of six or higher”.
“This would require the technology or capability being described to have been tested and verified in an operational environment or an operational-like environment,” the request for information document reads.
Respondents are also asked to provide details on the extent they would be able to participate in any trials and if they would require any specific support, such as access to facilities, systems, data, or expertise.
The ASA has already undertaken SSA trials with Sydney-based HEO Robotics as a part of its Civil Space Monitoring Pathfinder project.
HEO Robotics claims to have the world’s largest privately held database of in-space images and has been able to identify objects faster than the United States’ Space Force in some cases.
In October 2024, the ASA signed a joint statement of intent with the United States Commerce department’s office of space commerce to collaborate on improving “space object re-entry monitoring and prediction”.
The two government agencies said they intend to collaborate on a “joint study involving the exchange and analysis of publicly available data to evaluate the utility of such data for space object re-entry monitoring and prediction” ahead of a more formal collaboration framework.
The ASA previously told an international scientific conference on space situational awareness it would complete a roadmap for the sector by the end of 2021, to commence implementation in 2022.
However, this was a priority under the former Coalition government’s Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028, which has not been updated under the Albanese government.
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