Australia
French military shows interest in Stratobus • Emergency satcom gear deployed in Australia
Thales Alenia Space and its majority shareholder Thales Group have signed a study contract with the French defense procurement agency DGA
Australia to cooperate with NASA on lunar exploration
NASA signed an agreement with its Australian counterpart Sept. 21 to cooperate on NASA’s Artemis program as Australia seeks to further boost its space industry.
Australia updates commercial launch regulations
The Australian government has enacted new regulations regarding the launch and reentry of commercial vehicles as part of an effort to help promote development of a domestic launch industry.
No near-term satellite orders for ABS • Amazon joins SIA • Speedcast, Australian Space Agency team up
Fleet operator ABS expects to wait until 2021 before planning additional satellites.
Optus partners with smallsat startup Myriota on Australian IoT service
Australia’s largest satellite operator Optus said Aug. 19 it will jointly pursue business connecting sensors and smart devices with Myriota, a startup planning a constellation of around 50 smallsats in low Earth orbit.
Telstra-NBN combo ruled out • Aireon launches free emergency service • Globalstar buys IP from supplier
Australia’s competition watchdog agency ruled out the idea of Telstra buying the National Broadband Network.
FIRST UP Satcom | 2019’s first Ariane 5 launching Feb. 5 • Goonhilly going global • NBN gets CFO
The Ariane 5 launch will carry two telecom satellites: Arabsat’s SaudiGEOSat-1/Hellas Sat 4, and the Indian space agency ISRO’s GSAT-31.
Australian startup raises $14 million for smallsat launchers
The company’s namesake says he now has sufficient capital to see his Queensland, Australia-based venture through to a first launch of an orbital rocket in 2020 but acknowledges he’s still looking for a domestic launch site.
Could Britain collaborate with Australia on a Galileo alternative?
As the U.K. continues to wrangle with the EU over Galileo, there is growing speculation that the country could seek to develop its own independent global navigation system with Australia — or even Japan.
Fleet details 100 nanosat constellation for Internet of Things connectivity
The space industry has at least 10 startups all wanting to use cubesats or other small satellites to help keep all manner of interoperable devices connected to a rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
Op-ed | Australia and America: United for a New Space Age
With its economic ties to Japan and China, in addition to its bond with the British Commonwealth and the citizens of the United States, Australia is ready to co-write the next chapter of the New Space Age.
Australia to establish national space agency
The government of Australia announced Sept. 25 that it plans to formally establish a national space agency, a milestone sought for decades by the country’s space industry and other space advocates.
Australia’s NBN satellite consumer broadband service suffering outages and customer response issues
Australia’s national satellite broadband service continues to suffer regional outages seven months after its introduction, with a majority of users reporting installation or connection problems, according to a survey conducted by a national broadband association.
NBN of Australia says bandwidth demand requires use of 2nd satellite
Australia’s NBN Co. on May 31 said it will use the full capacity of its second Ka-band spot-beam satellite, scheduled for launch this year, to accommodate the faster-than-expected rise in bandwidth demand rather than keep it as an in-orbit spare.
