Solar-powered ion-driven Optimus Space Transport (OST).
Three Australian space companies intend to join forces to use space cabs to launch a forest fire risk satellite, whose primary mission is to detect and track forest fire risks.
The technology, developed by Queensland, Australia’s Fireball International (Fireball International), can detect and report on forest fire danger in less than three minutes after it occurs.
The satellite provides automated forest fire danger detection and tracking by analyzing imagery from sensors, and sends notifications and maps to fire-related authorities when a fire is detected.
Christopher Tylor, CEO of Fireball International, told InnovationAus: “This is an Australian-built space cab that will carry an Australian-built satellite that is capable of detecting fires and is in the national interest, and this satellite will be launched by an Australian-built rocket and launched from the Australian Spaceport in Queensland.”
Firefighters work to control a forest fire in Perth, Australia, Feb. 2, 2021. (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Fireball International currently relies on a Japanese satellite launched by The Japanese Space Agency to monitor forest fire danger in Australia.
Australian companies Space Machines Company (SMC) and Gilmore Space Technologies have also teamed up to provide the rocket for the mission, which is set to launch into space in 2022.
Rajat Kulshrestha, founder and CEO of SMC, told AAP, “We are proud to have made this vital and groundbreaking deployment of Australian space technology a reality.”
“Space technology has vital applications in the real world and it is vital for Australia as a nation to build and have the technology that will enable us to explore the possibilities of space.”
Australia needs its own space technology
CSIRO recently detailed why Australia needs its own space technology, saying that timely data will only be available if the country has its own satellites.
“For floods, drought disasters, timely information is critical,” said David Williams, CSIRO’s executive director of digital, national facilities and collections.
“To get data in real Time, you have to have a good relationship with another country, or you have to have satellites.”
Australia also has an advantage in the marketplace because it doesn’t have some of the encumbrances that its international counterparts currently have, Williams said. “Because there’s no encumbrance, we can go straight to market rather than build a huge development chain …… The world is really moving into space and it will be a turning point now for Australia to really take advantage of that opportunity.”
Recent Comments