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Space policy small step for Australia


Australia's first space policy has been welcomed by some, but questioned by others for failing to show vision for the future (Source: GSFC/NASA)

Lost in space On November 29, 1967, a Redstone rocket with a kangaroo emblazoned on its side launched into space from Woomera rocket range.

The kangaroo symbolised Australia's bold entry into space as attached to the rocket was the WRESAT spacecraft - designed and built within 11 months.

But our glory as the seventh space-faring nation lasted only as long as the five days for which WRESAT orbited, and today many would agree WRESAT's re-entry into the atmosphere also marked the death of our space ambitions.

Since that countdown in 1967, Australia has never had a sustained space program, a fact not changed say critics by the unveiling this week of Australia's first space policy.

In announcing the policy, Innovation Minister Kate Lundy made it clear Australia was not about to put man on the moon.

"The new policy won't put Australians in space any time soon," Lundy admits.

Instead it will see the establishment of a space coordination office to oversee a national space effort and to liaise with other agencies.

It will also develop Australian space expertise, provide funding for the ongoing research into satellite systems, develop infrastructure to meet the projected growth in Australian demand for satellite data, and provide input to international space law.

Spot the difference

While the science establishment welcomed the policy as a way of securing future access to vitally needed space resources, others decried the lack of inspiration and long-term vision.

Professor Andrew Dempster, the director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at the University of New South Wales says the new policy won't solve key concerns.

"People are happy to see there finally is a space policy, but it's hard to see what difference it will make," says Dempster.

He points to the 2008 senate standing committee report "Lost in Space" which called for the establishment of an Australian space agency.

"Nobody has ever explained to me why Australia alone is so special that we are the only OECD nation that doesn't need a space agency," says Dempster.

"When it comes to earth observation data, we freeload from friends in Europe and the United States. This is data that provides about $4 billion worth of value to Australia's GDP each year."

Dempster says access to this data could be lost as existing satellites reach the end of their operational lives and replacements are either not launched or delayed because of ongoing financial concerns by owner nations.

"That part of our economy is at risk, and Australia has not suffered a recession, so we don't have an excuse for not putting our own satellites up there," says Dempster.

"Politics is part of the problem, because space programs take longer than electoral cycles, and that level of vision is absent from any of the political discussions we have on space."

However the policy is seen as a positive step by Professor Russell Boyce, Chair of the Academy of Science's National Committee for Space Science which provided input to the policy.

"We could ensure access to data by having our own satellites, but we can also gain access to satellites owned by other nations by contributing to a partnership," says Boyce.

"We should be putting our limited resources into things we can do better than other players."

According to Boyce, research support should focus on key areas such as remote sensing, satellite communications, positional navigation (GPS), and how these are affected by the upper atmosphere and space weather.

"These are applications to do with space that Australia does well and the sort of areas the [new] policy actively promotes," says Boyce.

"Australia doesn't need launch capabilities, there are plenty of other nations that already have these, and we're not big enough to support a satellite design and build industry."

Partnerships the key

And the need for Australian-owned earth observation satellites is also being seen as an open-ended question.

"Certainly there are several countries that operate their own satellites, but whether they get the value out of them is a debateable point," says Geosciences Australia remote sensing scientist Norman Meller.

"Geosciences Australia has had quite an input into the space policy to ensure we have a policy that will keep more Landsat, Modis and similar satellite data coming and continue observations."

Meller says Australia has significant access to earth observation satellites through partnership agreements with organisations such as NASA and the US Geological Survey.

These partnerships include operating several satellite ground stations and processing data for other nations.

"One of our staff members is part of the Landsat science team and we helped develop the technical design requirements for the spacecraft to ensure that we get the kind of data we need," says Meller.

But UNSW's Dempster says that doesn't stop access being lost in the future.

He says the policy also lacks vision because it doesn't provide a future career path in this country for Australians interested in space.

"Kids are excited by dinosaurs and space, if you can inspire them to do sciences and follow that through to university, that would be a great outcome," says Dempster.

Tags: spacecraft

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