Two innovative South Australian space start-ups, AICRAFT and Safety from Space, have each secured $100,000 in funding from the inaugural South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund.
The fund, launched earlier this year, is designed to accelerate the development of local space innovation and collaboration with international partners. It supports projects that are focused on proof-of-concept or delivering space capabilities with a clear path to commercialisation.
Safety from Space will use the funding for its Lunar Search and Rescue (LunaSAR) project, which will trial advanced satellite communications (SATCOM) for future astronaut search and rescue operations on the surface of the Moon. The LunaSAR system is designed to be lighter and more reliable than current devices on the market, with a longer battery life.
The project will be conducted in collaboration with NASA, The Mars Society (US and Australian arms) and several Australian partners including SmartSat CRC, UniSA and Flinders University.
Safety from Space Founder Dr Mark Rice welcomed the grant’s contribution to making the mission possible.
“Our collaboration with NASA has put Australia at the forefront of two-way communications for search and rescue, and we are extremely grateful for the funding from the South Australian Government to make it possible,” Dr Rice said.
A successful trial could pave the way for a unique Australian contribution into NASA’s Artemis Program as well have applications for emergency communication in remote areas on Earth.
“Ensuring the safe return of astronauts in the event of an emergency is critical to interplanetary exploration, and we are passionate to see our breakthrough communications technology playing a pivotal role,” he added.
AICRAFT’s will also receive funding to support development of its ‘Leoflect’ project, which combines their advanced edge computing system with a lightweight, ultra-compact, reflector array antenna from India’s Guerin Technologies.
This will create a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload – a type of radar used to create detailed images of the Earth’s surface – that is lighter and smaller than other solutions on the market. It will use advanced AI models to deliver power-efficient, high-speed data processing and analysis on orbit – a solution that is light-years ahead of existing technologies.
AICRAFT Chief Executive Officer Dr Tony Scoleri praised the partnership with Guerin Technologies.
“We have developed strong relationships with the Indian space ecosystem and are thrilled to partner with Guerin Technologies on our ‘Leoflect’ project to harness the innovation in both our companies,” Dr Scoleri said.
“We are grateful to the South Australian Government for this funding support, which will make it possible for us to deliver world-class technology with rapid speed, bringing down the cost of, and access to, critically important SAR data.”
The South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund is an initiative of the South Australian Space Industry Centre in collaboration with the Defence Innovation Partnership.
Details on the next round of funding will be announced soon.
Pictured left: Dr Marc Rice, Safety from Space Founder and right: Dr Tony Scoleri, AICRAFT Chief Executive Officer.
