The South Australian Space Industry Centre hosted Australia’s first joint Space Science & Space Industry Conference, incorporating the 8th Space Forum (formerly South Australia Space Forum) and the 19th Australian Space Research Conference (ASRC).

Supported by the Australian Space Agency and the SmartSat CRC – the event took place from 30 September to 2 October 2019 at South Australia’s award-winning Adelaide Convention Centre – a prominent destination for space, defence and innovation-related business events.

The three-day conference welcomed key players in the space sector, including scientists, researchers, educators and workers in industry and government to network and discuss the latest trends and opportunities. The full and extensive program featuring plenary speakers, panel discussions, technical sessions, exhibition and social events can be found via the link below.

Presentations from the event

National and International Space Trends

Dr Megan Clark AC, Head, Australian Space Agency

Luca Del Monte, Head of Industrial Policy and SME Division, European Space Agency – Paris (Keynote)

Dr Sarah Pearce, Deputy Director, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science

Dr James Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Geoscience Australia

Dr Graeme Kernich, Chief Executive Officer, Frontier SI

Australian Space Research Conference Plenaries

Dr Jason Held, Chief Executive Officer, Saber Astronautics

Prof Phil Bland, Planetary Scientist, School of Earth and Planetary Science, Australian Laureate Fellow, Curtin University

Dr Suelynn Choy, Geospatial Science, RMIT University

Prof John Le Marshall, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Bureau of Meteorology

SmartSat CRC – Building Australia’s Space Industry (Panel)

Peter Nikoloff, Director/Senior Weapons Engineer, Nova Systems

Prof Anna Moore, Director, InSpace

Dr Koukou Suu, Chief Executive Officer, ULVAC Inc.

Shaun Wilson, Founder & Head of Business Development, Shoal Group

Exhibition & Sponsorship

Space Week 2019

A number of ancillary events took place throughout the week.

The Women in Space project brought together women working in the space sector, from around Australia and overseas, from academia, government, industry, civil society, and the military, for a series of events.

Taking place on Thursday 26 September and Friday 27 September, the event highlighted the achievements of women in the space sector, while providing participants with the opportunity to contribute to a high quality publication, discuss works in progress, network, and support their peers. The outcome of the event will be an edited collection which will be a timely international and interdisciplinary project to highlight the importance and contribution of women to the space sector, and which showcases South Australia’s leadership in space.

Students and Teachers were encouraged by the South Australian Space Industry Centre to attend either of the two Space Passport sessions at the 8th Space Forum held in Adelaide, South Australia on Monday 30 September 2019 at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

These sessions provided the perfect opportunity for students and teachers to learn about current/future careers within the Space Economy and Industry and inspired young people to develop the skills to push forward the frontiers of scientific knowledge.

The Space Passport sessions encouraged students to;

  • Talk directly to companies currently involved with the Australian Space Sector
  • Ask companies about current and future careers within their industry
  • Find out about the school and tertiary pathways needed to enter the discussed careers
  • Have their Space Passport stamped by 4 exhibiting companies after discussing careers and pathways then enter details at the Advanced Technology Program Education Stand to win a prize

The South Australian Museum hosted SpaceFest for out of this world fun, journeying into space during the school holidays! Students could Launch Rockets with Techspace Learning, reach for the stars in our giant inflatable Stardome and learn about constellations, get crafty and make star origami and other space-related crafts, learn about marvellous meteorites, solve the problems of the future using your imagination and recycled materials – plus, get ready for take-off as you launch your own rocket! The program is ideal for children ages 5-12. Our school holiday programs aim to spark curiosity and wonder, encouraging children to ask questions and learn about science, nature and culture.

This series was made possible by Beach Energy

Supporting Partners South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC) and Australian Hiring

The South Australian Museum exists to inspire in all people a wonder and curiosity about life on Earth.

This event was held as part of the 19th Australian Space Research Conference and a joint event with the AIAA.

Plans for the exploration of deep space will see humans travel deeper into space and for longer periods than at any time in human history. This new era of space and planetary exploration will expose humans to hazards not experienced since the Apollo program of the 1960s and 70s, but magnified by greater distance and much longer exposures. Human missions to Mars will expose the crews to hazards such as isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, hostile and closed environments, radiation, and of course altered gravity fields. While countermeasures can be identified for many of these challenges, some of the problems of microgravity remain unsolved. This presentation described the impacts of microgravity on human physiology during long duration exploration class missions to Mars, and explored possible solutions.

Dr Gordon Cable is a specialist in aerospace medicine and a Senior Aviation Medical Officer for the ADF. He has been a consultant to the RAAF since 1996. Dr Cable is an honorary member of the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine, as well as Chair of the Space Life Sciences Committee, and a past president. He holds Fellowships with the Australasian College of Aerospace Medicine, the Aerospace Medical Association, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. Additionally, Dr Cable is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Adelaide, and a Senior Lecturer in Space Medicine at the University of Tasmania. His professional interests include altitude physiology of hypoxia and hypobaric decompression illness, hypoxia awareness training of military and civilian aircrew, space medicine, and postgraduate education in aerospace medicines. In 2015 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for contributions to aerospace medicine.

ANI Institute for Space hosted an information session to introduce to industry and academia the National Space Test Facility (NSTF) at Canberra. InSpace Director, Professor Anna Moore highlighted the strategic relevance of this national asset for space sector growth. Space Test Scientist and NSTF Manager, Mr Eduardo Trifoni presented its capabilities and governance model open to space community and sought out ideas on future developments.

Deloitte GRAVITY Challenge is a national technology innovation program for corporates, entrepreneurs and universities to design and build solutions to real industrial, social and environmental problems by leveraging AWS and Deloitte space capabilities, harnessing the recently announced AWS Ground Station service.

On Tuesday 1 October, SmartSat CRC hosted the first event in their Visiting Distinguished Speaker Series. Mr Luca del Monte, Head of Industrial Policy and SME Division at the European Space Agency gave a presentation on the European experience in Business Applications and Space Solutions.

This event coincided with the SA Space Forum and Australian Space Research Conference. For those of you who were unable to attend in person, the event was live streamed.

The Wide Area Space Surveillance Systems Program Office – Space Situational Awareness Sub-Program invited industry and academia to join us for a Space Situational Awareness event – Networking among the stars.

Presentations were provided by the Royal Australian Air Force, Capability, Acquisition and Sustainment Group and Defence Science Technology Group about our current (and emerging) understanding of the space situational awareness environment.

This was followed by an opportunity for registered industry and academia to give a 10 minute one-on-one presentation to Defence representatives on their latest and emerging capabilities. This allowed Defence to better understand industry capabilities but was not intended to be an opportunity for industry to ask defence questions around its future program or needs.

This event was free for industry and academia and included a number of opportunities for the participants to expand their networks across the Space Situational Awareness domain.