Australia
Virgin Galactic executive to lead Australian Space Agency
A longtime Virgin Galactic executive will return to Australia to take over the country’s young space agency, the Australian government announced Nov. 13.
Optus orders OneSat satellite from Airbus
Airbus will build the satellite, called Optus-11, on its new OneSat platform, designed with a reconfigurable payload that can steer and reassign beams for different customers and services.
U.S. Space Force deploying surveillance telescope in Australia
The telescope was designed to track and identify debris and satellites more than 22,000 miles above Earth.
Australian IoT startup Myriota raises $19 million
Founded in 2015 to commercialize cheap, narrowband signal transmitters developed at the University of South Australia, Myriota has raised $37 million total.
Australian launch industry looks to government for regulatory and financial support
Australia’s nascent launch industry says it would like to see the country’s government provide more financial and regulatory support to help it get established in the global market.
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.
