12th Australian Space Science Conference to be held in September

Image: National Space Society of Australia

The 12th Australian Space Science Conference (ASSC), will be held from the 24-27th of September at RMIT University in Melbourne. The conference is the premier meeting of Space Scientists throughout Australia, and attracts scientists, engineers, academia, industry and government. This will be the sixth ASSC jointly sponsored and organised by the National Committee for Space Science (NCSS) and the National Space Society of Australia (NSSA). This year's conference will cover:

• Space science
• Space engineering 
• Space industry 
• Space archeology 
• Government, international relations and law 
• Education and outreach

There will be a special session on successful, submitted, and future applications for Australian Space Research Program funding.There will also be a special session on implementation plans for the 2010 – 2019 Decadal Plan for Australian Space Science and connections to the new 2011 Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure.

If you are interested in Space Science in Australia, I can highly recommend attending. Further information about the conference can be found here.

(Space Boomerang Note: This article has been adapted from the NSSA conference notice here)

Australian Defence Payload Launches on Intelsat 22

Image: Boeing - Intelsat 22

March 26 saw the Intelsat 22 telecommunication satellite launched successfully on a Proton Breeze M rocket from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Intelsat 22 satellite was equipped with a UHF payload that was paid for by the Australian Defence Department, under project JP2008 Phase 5A. Including ground enhancements, the project value is around AUD$145M

The Intelsat 22 is a geostationary satellite that was built by Boeing of California which includes C- and Ku- band payloads for commercial applications, but demonstrates a new model of business for Intelsat by co-hosting international defence payloads. Intelsat is highlighting the on-time, on-budget nature of the deal to demonstrate that this kind of acquisition model can deliver a better outcome for defence departments worldwide.

The Satellite is designed for an 18 year lifetime, and was built on the 702MP platform. An interesting video of the Intelsat 22 spacecraft in integration and test is on Youtube here, with a further video on the UHF payload hosted here.

What I have found surprising - the Australia Defence Force seemed to have put out no media release or statement on the successful launch!

2011 VSSEC-NASA Australian Space Prize Winner Announced

NASA has announced the winner of the 2011 VSSEC-NASA Australian Space Prize. Lyle Roberts from The Australian National University will spend 10 weeks at the NASA Ames Research Center, as part of the NASA Academy program, where he will meet leading NASA scientists and engineers, and visit cutting edge research facilities such as JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Kennedy Space Center. During his stay he will work on a current NASA research project “Understanding warning signs of major earthquakes” under the supervision of Principal Investigator, Friedemann T. Freund, San Jose State University Physics Dept. and Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute.

Lyle Roberts, Winner of the 2011 VSSEC-NASA Australian Space Prize (Photo: VSSEC)

 “Winning the VSSEC-NASA Space Prize and the opportunity to attend the NASA Space Academy at Ames is an incredible honour. This is one of those career defining moments that aspiring engineers dream of. My mind is still blowing itself apart; I think it will take a while for reality to sink in. My deepest gratitude goes to VSSEC and the other sponsors for providing me with (and supporting me through) this once in a lifetime opportunity.” said Lyle. The Engineering category of the prize is supported by the Engineers Australia National Committee for Space Engineering.

“The Engineers Australia’s National Committee for Space Engineering is pleased to note that this year’s winner of the EA Undergraduate Prize for Space Engineering, Lyle Roberts, has also been awarded the VSSEC-NASA Australian Space Prize. Congratulations Lyle, your excellent thesis made you a truly worthy winner. The committee is a strong supporter of this competition and would like to thank VSSEC and NASA for making the opportunity, to attend a 10 week NASA Academy program, available to Australian University undergraduates. We are confident that opportunities like this will inspire more young people to pursue a career in engineering and science.” (Mirek Vesely, Chair: National Committee for Space Engineering)

Australia presented NASA with five very strong candidates; selected from a national undergraduate thesis competition. Lyle’s project, High-Speed Digitally Enhanced Heterodyne Interferometry, presented a technique for increasing sensitivity and reducing the risk of critical mission failure of the proposed NASA GRACE ‘follow-on’ mission scheduled for launch in 2015. Other potential applications of this technique include high-sensitivity fibre-optic sensing, which is a rapidly expanding industry within Australia and around the world, and attracting significant interest from NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

When he returns to Australia Lyle will work with the Victorian Space Science Education Centre to share his NASA experience with secondary students and teachers to inspire Australia’s future scientists and engineers.

(SpaceBoomerang Note: This article has been re-produced from the VSSEC Media Release)

NewSat inks deal with Arianespace to launce Jabiru-1

On the 13th of March, Adrian Ballintine, CEO of NewSat signed a launch services contract for the Jabiru-1 satellite with Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO of Arianespace.

In another major step forward for NewSat as a company, Jabiru-1 will be launched into Geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana during the final quarter of 2014.

NewSat currently has an agreement with Lockheed Martin to produce the Ka-Band satellite using their A2100 platform. NewSat is currently finalising the credit arrangements for the satellite, and is able to turn to both U.S. and French export credit financing for the deal.

In other recent news, NewSat has entered into a further agreement with AP Kypros Satellite Limited for an additional orbital slot and expanded frequencies in existing slots. The agreement for the eighth orbital slot adds five additional orbital filings and rights to future filings in certain regions as they are made available.

Overall, a very successful few weeks for NewSat!

Setback for Australian / NZ SKA Bid

In a major setback for the Australian / NZ Square Kilometre Array bid, the SKA Scientific Panel has recommended the Southern African bid to host the facility.

It is understood that the Scientific Panel report identified very little difference between the two sites in terms of scientific merit, still keeping the door open to the selection of the Australian / NZ site.

In fact, both sites have good advantages - the Southern African site would be cheaper to build and is at a higher altitude, but the Australian / NZ site would  provide better radio quietness, be less likely to be impacted by future development and is in a far more politically stable environment. As such, either decision is still on the table.

The $2.5 Billion project is seen as one of the worlds best science facilities, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

The final decision for the SKA site location will be made by the four countries represented on the SKA board of directors - China, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain, who are expected to make their decision on April 4th 2012.  The board of directors will meet on March 19th in the UK to discuss the findings of the Scientific Panel, and allow both sites to contest any of the findings made.

As a wildcard choice, rumours of a dual site selection continue to swirl, although this is seen as a poor scientific option that is likely to drive up construction costs.