Back in 2019, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the UAE Space Agency, facilitating closer international partnerships in the space industry sectors. Now as both countries continue to forge ahead in their rapidly growing space industries, Sydney, capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), believes the UAE could provide some of the best opportunities for its Sydney-based space start-ups to land new investment.
Sydney has the broadest and strongest space capability in Australia
In 2018 the Australian Government launched the Australian Space Agency with the goal of tripling the national space economy from $3 billion (Dh11 billion) to $9 billion in 2030 and developing 12,000 additional highly skilled jobs.
With the largest portion of the Australian space industry based in New South Wales, the Government’s Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry, Stuart Ayres said that since the launch of the Australian Space Agency, the state of NSW has become the country’s leader in space innovation and entrepreneurship.
“With continued investment into domestic research and development, including Mars exploration, the UAE is poised to become a powerhouse within the space sector, and we know there’s a real opportunity for our Sydney-based companies to be part of this growth.
“Sydney has the broadest and strongest space capability in Australia boasting capability across every sector of the space industry – there’s simply no better place to develop and commercialise space technology than the city of Sydney and we see the International Astronautical Congress held during Expo 2020 Dubai providing us the global platform to showcase that strength.”
At the 2021 International Astronautical Congress, Sydney-based start-ups and space companies have been showcasing innovations across areas of robotics, satellite sub-systems, space medicine and biology.
Satisfying the surging demand for satellite services
As the surging demand for satellites continues, Sydney-based space robotics companies such as Spiral Blue, Sperospace and Saber Astronautics are looking to ride this wave of demand and the UAE could provide them the space to grow.
Sperospace is harnessing the next generation of in-space infrastructure, building modular robotic arms that will service and build satellites in space, with as much ease as a human assembling flat-packed furniture on Earth.
Read More: Australia’s growing space industry sets sights on UAE opportunities