“Without doubt there is great opportunity for Australia’s domestic space industry and the role it plays. For over 75 years the CSIRO has been growing Australia’s capability in radio astronomy and space. We’ve worked with NASA for over 50 years and will soon sign an agreement that will extend that relationship for another 25 years.
“As the lead agency managing Australia's facilities for radio astronomy and spacecraft tracking - including the iconic Dish and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex – we understand the huge opportunities Australia has for leveraging its capability. But these opportunities aren’t limited to big business.
“We engage with more than 30 SMEs on a variety of space-related activities, have had more than 1700 students from across the world taking part in our space education programs, and have hundreds of people working across our aerospace and astronomy research portfolio, spanning astronomy, sensors, satellites, earth observation, big data, robotics and 3D printing.
“The CSIRO has long believed in the opportunity created by collaboration – bringing our diverse perspectives and skills together, underpinned by a deep science expertise – to create the best outcome for Australia. This is no different for our opportunity in space.
“In a highly competitive global market and, as a nation, we need to bring something unique to the space table, besides geography. Both CSIRO and Australia as a whole are already working at world-standard in many areas of space research and industry development, and we are well positioned to improve our position as key players in national and global space and astronomy.
“We look forward to continuing to contribute to the Reference Group.”