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CSIRO boosts space capability with deal for
direct access to satellite
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has
secured direct access to a satellite being launched later this year in a
$10.45 million deal with UKbased Surrey Satellite Technology. While the
CSIRO currently has access to satellite data from Europe and the US,
this will be the first time the agency gains direct control over data
collection capability as a satellite passes through Australia.
CSIRO astronomy and space science group director Dr Douglas Bock
told CommsDay that the first-of-its-kind deal would significantly
enhance Australia's space capability and provide many flow-on benefits
to industry and the wider economy.
“This is Australia realising there's a national interest in having
access to our own piece of a satellite, rather than just data that
others are providing. And so what's vital about this mission is that we
get to target the satellite when it goes across Australia so that we can
look at what we want to look at and at a time when we want to look at
it,” he said in an interview at the agency's stand at the International
Astronautical Congress in Adelaide.
Bock's astronomy and space science group manages a national facility in
Canberra that includes data through agreements with the European Space
Agency and NASA, with which it has a 50-year history of collaboration.
The deal with Surrey Satellite Technology will add to that existing
capability. SST is launching the NovaSAR-S, a first-in-class small radar
satellite. The CSIRO will have access to the raw data directly from the
satellite, and a license to use and share it with other Australian
companies and organisations. The satellite hosts an innovative S-band
SAR payload developed by Airbus UK. According to Bock, the satellite
brings new capabilities to Australia's earth observation.
“Because it's a radar satellite and operates through radio waves, it can
see through clouds. So a lot of the current satellites can't see through
clouds, which if you're looking at flooding, for example, that might be
when you need to see through it most,” he said. “It will help us manage
more productive agriculture, understand our forestry cover, look at
carbon loading, look at our borders in terms of maritime . . . there are
a whole number of ways in which this can help the Australian economy and
Australian people directly,” Bock added. The NovaSAR-S is also equipped
with a wide >400km swath maritime mode for ship detection across oceans
and flies an Automatic Identification System to provide additional data
for shipping, coastguard and customs authorities.
The UK government provided £21 million to assist in the development and
launch of NovaSAR-S and will also benefit from access to the SAR data,
significantly boosting the UK’s own earth observation capabilities for
applications such as ship detection and identification, oil spill
detection, forestry monitoring and disaster monitoring, particularly
flood detection and assessment.
SST commercial director Luis Gomes said further data shares on the
system are available, with the company in discussions with further
potential partners. In the meantime, Bock said that the CSIRO could
boost its space capabilities further in future with similar deals. While
Australia may also launch its own satellite, Bock said the current
“time-share” arrangements may suit the country's needs better. “You have
to set up the right type of commercial arrangements and good governance
to make sure you have access to the data when you need it. Then you have
something much more powerful than one satellite launched by Australia
that might be on the wrong side of the world when you need it,” he said.
Geoff Long, Commsday
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