During it all, Space Connect has interviewed the biggest figures in the industry to help you make sense of it all. Here, we round up our best interviews.
Scott Morrison on Australia’s big space opportunity
In October, Scott Morrison was surprisingly unveiled as the new chairman of Space Centre Australia, the planned spaceport in Far North Queensland.
The move has the potential to hugely disrupt Australia’s launch sector, which already has four spaceports scattered around the country.
Just a few weeks later, the former prime minister joined Robert Dougherty in our studio in North Sydney.
The pair discussed the new government’s cuts to the space sector, whether the industry will recover, and how Australia can take advantage of its geographical advantages to become a leader in launch.
Analysing the US-Australia launch deal
In 2024, the US and Australia signed a landmark treaty that will allow more US rockets to blast off from Australian spaceports.
The deal has the potential to be a boon for local spaceports – though it comes with many catches.
In this episode, Joel Lisk, a research associate in space law at Flinders University, talked through what the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) means.
He also explained how it differs from similar TSAs agreed between the US and other nations.
The consortium set to take Australia to the moon
This month, the ELO2 consortium beat out rival AROSE to win the right to create Australia’s upcoming lunar rover.
The rover is designed to collect regolith, or moon soil, which will eventually be turned into oxygen to support a permanent NASA base.
It’s arguably the biggest and most exciting project Australia’s space sector has ever been involved with and will work in tandem with NASA’s Artemis mission to return humans to the lunar surface.
In this episode, host Adam Thorn interviewed two of the key figures at ELO2 overseeing the project: Lunar Outpost’s Joseph Kenrick and EPE Oceania’s Ben Sorensen.
The inside story behind SpIRIT’s momentous launch
The launch of the University of Melbourne’s SpIRIT satellite last month was a milestone moment for Australia’s space industry.
A unique collaboration between industry and academia, the nanosatellite will search for gamma rays using scientific instruments created by the Italian Space Agency.
In this episode, the professor leading the project, Michele Trenti, talked through the nerve-racking moments before launch and what happens next.
Space Centre Australia on the spaceport that could one day host SpaceX
Space Centre Australia plans to build a spaceport in Far North Queensland that it hopes will become like an international airport for launch vehicles.
However, unlike its local rivals, it believes it can one day host larger rockets manufactured by companies such as SpaceX.
In this episode, SCA’s founder and CEO, James Palmer, joined host Adam Thorn to talk about the latest developments as well as the appointment of its new chairman, Scott Morrison.
The pair also discussed the latest industry topics, including the high-profile cancelling of the JP 9102 tender with Lockheed Martin.
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Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.