BACKGROUND BRIEFING: Space 2.0 - The new space age is small and cheap but harder to find

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2019-09-30 00:01

Australia; NSW; SA; ACT

Image by PIRO4D from Pixabay

*BRIEFING RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE* Just like mobile phones did in the 90s, today's satellites are shrinking. They are smaller, cheaper and can be sent up with reusable, interchangeable rockets, such as the privately owned Space X. This trend, being dubbed Space 2.0 and could open up completely new uses of space, from the ‘internet of things’, to ‘broadband in the sky’. But its not without its challenges, whether it is space debris and national security. So, what exactly does Space 2.0 mean for the Australian Space Industry?

Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

Just like mobile phones did in the 90s, today's satellites are shrinking. They are smaller, cheaper and can be sent up with reusable, interchangeable rockets, such as the privately owned Space X. This trend, being dubbed Space 2.0, means that space is no longer just the domain of the big boys like NASA who have access to big expensive rockets and satellites, instead it is rapidly becoming privatised and busy.

Space 2.0 could open up completely new uses of space, from the ‘internet of things’, to ‘broadband in the sky’. But its not without its challenges, whether it is space debris and national security. So, what exactly does Space 2.0 mean for the Australian Space Industry?

All this and more will be discussed on Monday when Adelaide hosts both the 19th Australian Space Research Conference, and the 8th Space Forum. This briefing will bring together some of leading experts from these meetings to discuss the following issues:

Space 2.0 - the opportunities and challenges it presents
Using laser and quantum tech for space communications
Space Situational Awareness - How do you track a satellite the size of a loaf of bread?

Speakers:

Professor Andrew Dempster is the Director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at the University of New South Wales.
Dr Kate Ferguson is a Postdoctoral Fellow, and Senior Business Development Officer at the Australian National University Institute for Space (InSpace)
Dr Melrose Brown is Lecturer and Space Program Coordinator in the School of Engineering and Information Technology at UNSW Canberra Space Research

-------------------

Date: Friday 27 September 2019
Start Time: 10:30am AEST
Duration: 45 min
Venue: Online

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Video Australian Science Media Centre, Web page Full briefing recording

Journal/
conference:

Organisation/s: The University of New South Wales, The Australian National University, Australian Science Media Centre

Funder: This briefing is part of a series of online media briefings on Emerging Technologies hosted by the AusSMC and supported by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and Brighter (a community and stakeholder engagement initiative of APPEA). The AusSMC retains full editorial control for all briefings.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.