Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697639051419.pdf (Australia)
SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry 1.
A VISION FOR AUSTRALIA’S SPACE SECTOR THE CONTEXT During public hearing on 10 March in Adelaide the Chair made the following comments to SmartSat CRC representatives; “Tell me about the things that we should be reaching out and saying, 'make this a goal' and, therefore, everybody's got a reason to coordinate, to collaborate, to come together and go off and do their other things as well.
What are the this's?” “I think, if there's a role for government, it's got to create some sort of vision that people can be part of and contribute to, or not.

If they do, it will force a lot of the problems out; things will start to resolve themselves because they have a target to hit.” This supplementary submission aims to address these and to offer an opinion on what the Australian Government might set as a vision, with detail, for Australia’s space industry.
THE VISION SmartSat CRC offers the following vision statement for consideration: Australia is the recognised leader in space systems and services in our part of the hemisphere by 2030.

(Please note: we recognise that this offering would greatly benefit from a process of public scrutiny.

We see it as starting point for that discussion).

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CHALLENGE Australia currently has limited capacity and autonomy in space and this limits our ability to fully realise national benefits from space.
We either lack, or are at a very early stage of development, of the following critical infrastructure and capabilities that are essential for a space faring nation:  Satellite design, manufacturing and testing capabilities;  Earth observation sensors, both design and build capabilities;  Internet of Things (IoT) sensors; whilst we have the design capabilities we lack the manufacturing capabilities;  Satellite launch facilities; none exist at present although we have two proposed (Southern Launch and Equatorial Launch Australia);  Operational in-country rocket construction and infrastructure for manufacturing;  Mission control; we have one under contruction at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide which will be operational in 2021.
Optus provide mission control capabilities for geo-stationary satellites from Belrose, NSW; and  Satellites:  Earth observation: we neither own nor operate any earth observation (remote sensing satellites) although we rely on around 25 satellites for fundamental services  Tele-communications (broadband): NBN Co owns and operate two Skymuster satellites supplying broadband internet to regional, rural and remote users.
The Singapore owned Optus operate a fleet of five geo-stationary satellites that provide metropolitan and some limited regional communications services.
3 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry  Tele-communications (IoT sensor communications): Australia is well positioned to benefit from this emerging market segment through Fleet Space and Myriota which have plans to launch a combined total of around 200 satellites into LEO.
 Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) (that is GPS and similar satellite systems): we do not own or operate any of the six global and regional GPS-like systems.

However in 2018 the Government funded Geoscience Australia to acquire a Space Based Augmentation System (a single geostationary satellite) that will operate as supporting capability for the GPS-like systems that we do access to enhance their signal and improve positioning accuracies over Australia.
Many of these challenges have been identified through previous activities such as the Expert Reference Group’s “Review of Australia’s Space Industry Capability” which recommended the creation of the Australian Space Agency and laid the foundation for the development of “Advancing Space – Australian Civil Space Strategy20019-2028”.
These documents outline a plan to grow the space industry with further work currently underway to identify technology areas (Roadmaps) that will create industry opportunities within the space sector.
What they don’t do is map out how current programs and access to industry capabilities might be brought to bear of some of our toughest national problems such as: economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; increasing supply chain resilience; climate adaptation; bridging the digital divide between urban and non-urban communities; etc.
We postulate that by increasing the national ambition for space innovation, it will be possible for the Australian industry to contribute many space based systems as solutions to national problems and that this is the best mechanism to grow the sector.

FROM VISION TO REALITY Australia would benefit from a National Space Vision with the following elements if we are to move from the current situation towards a future of a fully realised space capacity with the right degree of autonomy: 1.
A vision supported by a nationally conceived space architecture addressing national security, economic prosperity and social benefit; 2.

A collective commitment by the Government and key stakeholders to stay the course in implementing the Vision over the decade to come; 3.

Coordination through the leadership of the Australian Space Agency; 4.

An increase in the tempo of decision making and actioning; and 5.

A willing R&D ecosystem that is collaborative and agile and focussed on high impact needs.
This will result in a step-change in the ability of Australia to control our space destiny, empower the private sector to reach scales comparable with those of advanced space nations, and support our need for a growing level of independence in addressing our defence and national security needs.
BUILDING THE SPACE ARCHITECTURE TO REALISE THE VISION At the heart of a fully functioning space ecosystem for Australia are the triple capabilities of earth observation, satellite telecommunications and PNT, supported by advanced analytics, and space systems providing coverage to every part of Australia and its off-shore territories including the Indian and Pacific Oceans and Antarctica.
4 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry Set out below is a first cut of the detailed components of the national space architecture for Australia which in our view are needed over the next seven years, comprising a mix of government and commercial ownership, operating from a variety of orbits: ORBIT TYPE SATELLITE ORBITAL ALTITUDE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF SATELLITES FOR PERSISTANT COVERAGE TYPICAL APPLICATION LEO 800km MEO 10,000 – 20,000 km GEO 35,768 km 50-60 6-9 1-2 Communications, High-resolution Earth Observation PNT, Communications Communications, Low-resolution Earth Observation In order to achieve persistent coverage of Australia from non-geostationary orbits it is necessary to provide global coverage.
This creates opportunities from these orbits to offer regional services around the globe and further foster critical international partnerships.

Implementation will also require development of the additonal components as outlined below.

Again these will comprise a mix of government and commercial owned assets, many of which will become critical infrastructure or contribute to systems of national importance.
Element Description LEO Satellites MEO Satellite GEO Satellites Space Based Sensors Constellation of low earth orbit satellites providing continuous coverage of Australia for low-latency communications and sensor data download Provides wider field of view than LEO resulting is lower number of satellites.

These can provide PNT signals and communications relay functions for LEO satellites.
Provide persistant coverage from a single satellite but the orbital location results in high cost launch and long signal propagation delays that result in low quality voice services as well as hampering the development of low latency-dependent applications.

Satellites will carry Earth Observation sensors that offer less than one metre pixel resolutions at least six hourly with passive optical and NIR sensors.

Larger satellites in LEO and MEO orbits will carry shortwave imaging and low cost hyperspectral.
The MEO satellites will be configured to offer persistent coverage, approaching 24 hourly.
Satellites with electro-optical and RF imaging capabilities to provide 24/7, 365 day coverage of Australia Access to space Launch capabilities onshore for small satellites Mission Control To monitor and safely operate national space infrastructure 5 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry System Design and Integration Capabilities for ideation, design, build and space hardening of sensors and satellite buses across the private and publicly funded research sectors Space Manufacturing Manufacturing of specialised componentry for domestic and international markets Intelligent Spacecraft Artificial intelligence processing capabilities on-board select satellites Space and Spatial Digital Twins Digital twin analytics systems that operate off a common backbone of space-related infrastructure.
Data Analytics and Decision Support and in particular spatial capabilities Analytics which power information product generation using multiple data sources from real-time sensor acquisitions combined with existing data from the vast existing data stores producing customised outputs, fit for purpose, timely and available where and when required (cover AquaWatch, Eye in the Sky, the Indo-Pacific Connector and others) Data Stores Located within Australian territory for enhanced cyber resilience SBAS (Space Based Augmentation System) Fully integrated with PNT (GNSS) at all key stages of the information supply chain.
Currently under acquisition by Geoscience Australia Whole-of-Government Coordination Favourable and coordinated policies and programs for tendering, procurement and R&D to build national capability that has specifically been identified as a needed sovereign capability, and critical mass for capturing and growing domestic and international markets Planning Stage gated development over the next seven years which sees capability development managed to this nationally conceived design These capabilities are the equivalent today of Australia’s telecommunications copper wires and their supporting infrastructure from early to the middle of last century - a national sovereign capability that was critical to building our nation.
RECENT INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLE – THE UK A useful and very recent example, is the UK’s Integrated Review ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’ (UK Cabinet office 16 March 2021) which has flagged increased focus on research translation as a national priority in selected areas of national strategic importance including space: “As part of building the UK’s strategic advantage through S&T, the Government will build the enabling environment for a thriving UK space industry developing space - and ground-based technologies.
We will promote a ‘whole-of-life’ offer from R&D through finance to satellite operations, launch capability data applications and end-of-life services.
Defence will carry out more space-related science activity, R&D and operational concept demonstrators.” 6 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry APPENDIX SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE CHALLENGE When judged against the rest of the space-faring world Australia’s space industry is nascent and our space science community, although of world class quality, is fragmented and small.
Even with the space initiatives currently planned, without a step change in the approach our nation takes to space our progress is likely to be modestly incremental and increasingly laggard when compared with the three dozen space-leading nations.

What we currently have planned is not enough.

The realisation of the National Space Vision will ensure the most efficient use of Australia’s space- related resources to achieve the highest impact possible.
It will enable Australia to establish the critical backbone of infrastructure, capabilities that will leverage all future space activities.

What follows would be a national space architecture which sets out the capabilities the nation aspires to achieve by 2030 to deliver security, economic, social and environmental benefits to all Australians.
If delivered through a detailed strategy that also coordinates the many disparate projects in the commercial and defence sectors over the coming decade, this approach can underpin a strengthed, competitive and self-sustaining space sector that is world class.

Only in this way will the nation achieve a fully functional space supply chain with assured control over our own destiny in space.

Build what is needed and build-once for the use of many is the essence of this thinking.
This is the most effective way to establish a mature domestic space industry with the scale to compete effectively for the large and rapidly growing international space markets.

SPACE INFRASTRUCTURE There are four key space capabilities that are needed to serve every nation on earth: 1) Communications; 2) Earth observation; 3) Positioning, navigation and timing; and 4) Space Domain Awareness (SDA), including Space Traffic Management.

It is the first two that are the focus of this submission.
The third, positioning, navigation and timing is being very effectively advanced by Geoscience Australia’s ‘Positioning Australia’ program with $224.9M from the 2018 Federal budget.
The final capability has historically been the preserve of the military but with increasing commercial interest in space, an element of SDA, namely Space Traffic Management, is emerging as a national/international capability to ensure space remains a global commons capable of continuing to deliver benefit to all as it becomes increasingly congested.
Communications Satellite communications are needed to provide reliable, high bandwidth and high speed to all areas of the continent, our offshore territories and our territorial waters.

The absence of this capability is widely recognised as impeding growth in regional, rural and remote areas.
Morevover the benefits of the sensor revolution (the Internet of Things) cannot be realised without access to constellations of low earth orbit cube satellites (cubesats) that prioritise coverage of the nation, nor can other technological advances such as autonomous vehicles (e.g.

driverless cars).
The 7 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry hopeful plans of a number of Australian startups will see dozens of these cubesats appearing over our skies in the coming years, but without a national plan to construct the infrastructural backbone for their use, they face significant risk of failure.
Earth Observation Australia relies on about 25 earth observing remote sensing satellites for operational applications across much of the economy.

None of these satellites systems are owned by Australian companies, nor have any Australian industrial content.

These satellties serve every jurisdiction, across many government agencies and Australian enterprises, across much of the economy for commerce and for disaster and emergency management.
SPACE CAPABILITY APPLICATIONS The following is a list of current applications and those needed in the future.

This is a preliminary set of application areas for space systems based on work conducted within SmartSat CRC during our bid development phase and first year of operation.

This is provided with the view of highlighting to the reader that a broad range of opportunities exist.
This is not claimed to be an exhaustive list and work being undertaken by other organisations, including the Australian Space Agency, will no doubt identify other potential national application areas.
Communications (LEO/MEO – orbital choice based on cost/latency trade-off) • National emergency response communications network including safety of life (AMSA) function • Universal Service Guarantee voice/data (low latency, high availability) • Telemedicine for remote/rural/regional communities o An overlaid applications that could be delivered through a combination of the NBN/Commercial broadband networks and the USG network listed above Environmental sensing (LEO/GEO – spatial/temporal resolutions trade) • Meteorology o Alternate/augmented sensor to complement data accessed under existing international agreements.
Would require consultation with the Bureau of Meteorology.

• Water resources o Extention of Aquawatch to improve national management of fresh water resources.

• Carbon monitoring o Includes sensors to assess effectiveness of carbon reduction measures including soil management.

• Land use (e.g.

fire fuel loads) o Advanced hyperspectral sensors to improve understanding of land use for agriculture, mining, environmental.
• Civil maritime security threats o Quarantine and Inspection o Biosecurity/environmental management such as marine transport sector oversight 8 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission SmartSat CRC Supplementary Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovations, Science and Resources Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry o Fisheries management, including detecting and policing illegal exploitation of fish- stocks in partnership with pacific partners.
Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) (LEO/MEO) • Additional Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS)/Regional Navigation Satellite Services o Including a stronger focus on PNT service resilience to supplement current SBAS approaches targeting accuracy.

• High precision timing signal o Provided independently from position and navigation capabilities.

Many commercial applications, e.g.


finance, are highly reliant on timing information and there are many well documented vulnerabilities related to relying on global GNSS systems for this signal.

Advanced, compact atomic clocks currently under development within Australia, could form the basis of a high precision, resilience timing service from LEO, MEO or GEO to reduce reliance on foreign controlled satellite networks.
Space Domain Awareness (Earth/LEO/MEO/GEO) • Space weather observation and forecasting • Orbital re-entry monitoring (could be Defence function) Space Service Delivery Enablement (MEO/GEO) • MEO relay capability (LEO service extension) • Ground station networks • Commercial space traffic management o Includes conjunction analysis and warning for commercial operators END 9 Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission What is GRAVITY Challenge?
GRAVITY Challenge is a global technology innovation program for corporates, entrepreneurs and universities to design and build solutions to real industrial, social and environmental problems by leveraging AWS and Deloitte space capabilities, harnessing the recently announced AWS Ground Station service.

Why GRAVITY Challenge?

Space could be the biggest disrupter Australia has seen in the past 10 years.
According to IBISWorld Industry Report, the global space economy is currently worth of US$130bn today and is forecasted to grow to over $US1.1 trillion by 2040.

Phases Benefits • Privileged access to current and over 20 years of historic satellite data from AWS and other satellite data providers • Corporate and Public Sector sponsorship of each industry challenge.
Real use cases and real customers • Mentorship and support from Deloitte and AWS technology and venture building experts • • Access to commercialisation strategy and incubation support for winning teams following IP ownership of the solution developed during the program the event to help scale offerings in market • Direct contact with Corporate and Public Sector customer supporting challenges Inquiry into Developing Australia's Space IndustrySubmission 29 - Supplementary Submission