Australian Space 2010 – A year in Review

With 2010 finished, I thought I would take a quick look back on the Australian Space Scene in 2010 and the major events that shaped it. What surprised me when compiling this article was the sheer number of important events that occurred during 2010, in what I could only describe as a booming year for the Australian Space scene.

Whilst it was indeed a busy year for Australian Space, I suspect that 2010 will go down as a year of build up for what is in stall in 2011. The stage is now set for Australia to be back in the Space game after years of neglect, and we look forward to the release of a National Space Policy in 2011.

The following is a list of some of the main 2010 developments in the Australian Space Scene:

• Space.gov.au launched – The Australian Government finally put in place a dedicated website for all things Space in response to the Senate Enquiry of 2008. If you haven’t visited yet, go and have a look.
• NBNCo took steps towards ordering two Ka-Band Satellites
• The Release of Brett Biddington and Roy Sach’s paper for the Kokoda Foundation: “Australia’s Place in Space: Toward A National Space Policy”
• The 11th Australian Space Development Conference was held in Adelaide in July
• Australian Space Research Programs Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 projects announced
• Hayabusa landing at Woomera – In June, we saw JAXA successfully land the Hayabusa probe at Woomera, achieving the first Asteroid Sample Return Mission
• The Decadal Plan for Australian Space Science was released at the 10th Australian Space Science Conference
• The 17th Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-17) was held in Melbourne
• ASICC changes its name to Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA)
• Australia – US Space Situational Awareness Partnership announced, including a space surveillance facility to be built in Australia
• Australia – US sign Civil Space Partnership Agreement – Probably the most un-reported, but major event in 2010, where Australia and the US will look to cooperate in civil space activities
• Space Minister Kim Carr Reappointed – Minister Kim Carr was re-elected along with the Federal Labor Government in Australia, ensuring good continuity within the portfolio. Thus far Minister Kim Carr’s efforts in the Space Domain have been successful – we hope this continues into 2011.
• Ongoing developments in Australia’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope
• Announcement of 4 new NASA dishes at Tidbinbilla
• Crash of Space Balloon in Australian Outback – back in May, we saw the unfortunate crash of the University of California’s Nuclear Compton Telescope that was to be launched on a balloon crash near Alice Springs.
• Australian Space Industry Innovation Council Established
• Space Boomerang Launched – I couldn’t help but mention my blog as a development in the Australian Space Scene. I have been contacted by many in the Industry who have been reading it, and it is gaining more and more hits by the day. Thank you to all those who visited in 2010, and I look forward to following the Australian Space Industry with you in 2011.