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Adelaide-headquartered Space Machines Company, backed by funding from the Defence Trailblazer’s Accelerating Sovereign Industrial Capabilities program, is developing space-borne perception and intelligence technology for space domain awareness that is aimed at advancing Australia’s sovereign space capabilities.
Space domain awareness (SDA) is critical to the booming sector as it refers to an understanding of the space environment and space objects, including predicting the behaviour of known and unknown objects to determine any potential threats.
Space Machines Company, which specialises in on-orbit servicing (OOS), plans to develop a ground-based proximity operations robotic testbed for space-borne perception and intelligence, with the project targeting OOS, space control and space-based space domain awareness applications. Space control involves ensuring freedom of action and access to the space domain.
The space-borne perception and intelligence technology will allow a host spacecraft to understand its immediate environment, characterise the objects in space, execute rendezvous and proximity operations, and achieve co-orbital space control.
Defence Trailblazer is a collaborative partnership between the University of Adelaide and UNSW, dedicated to advancing Australia’s defence capabilities through innovative research and strategic partnerships.
The initiative, which last year announced a $12 million grant scheme to fast-track the development of Australia’s defence industry capabilities, is supported by Federal Department of Education and more than 95 industry partners.
“The technology developed in the project underpins a range of proximity operations and servicing applications such as high-resolution inspection, satellite servicing, space control and space debris management that help safeguard space assets on-orbit,”says Mark Ramsey, the project lead at Space Machines Company.
The project will be delivered in collaboration with Sentient Satellites Laboratory at the University of Adelaide; Scarlet Lab, a SmartSat CRC initiative; and Space Control STC at Defence Science Technology Group.
It will serve as a focal point for research into space domain awareness and foster collaborations between defence, industry and academia.
The outcomes of this project also are directly aligned with the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities, which represent the industrial capabilities that the Department of Defence requires in Australia, including the development of autonomous systems, battlespace awareness systems and systems assurance.
“Currently, there is a lack of mature technologies that provide space-borne perception, and there are no orbital robotics testbeds in Australia,” says University of Adelaide’s Professor Tat-Jun Chin, the project’s technical lead.
“This project directly addresses this technical gap, which will greatly benefit the space industry.”
Space Machines says that with a large and sparsely populated geography, Australia is highly dependent on space technologies and the nation is progressively building sovereign space capabilities.
The company also sees the project aligning with its SPACE MAITRI mission, which is scheduled for launch in 2026 and aims to deliver innovative on-orbit debris management solutions.
The Space MAITRI (Mission for Australia-India’s Technology, Research and Innovation) initiative is a joint industry-led Australian-Indian mission that could see Space Machines deliver the largest ever Australian spacecraft at around 500kg.
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