Far out! Tassie’s entering the space race

TASMANIA will play a key role in Australian’s bold thrust into space, Senator Eric Abetz announced yesterday.

Fifty years after man first stood on the moon, Tasmania has been granted a tranche of space industry funding.

Senator Abetz has revealed the state has done well out of the decision by the Liberal Government to establish the Australian Space Agency in 2018. The agency is aiming to triple the size of the nation’s space industry and create 20,000 new jobs — and it has a budget this year of $73.2 million.

Senator Abetz said the money would benefit everyone. “The Government understands the far-reaching benefits of space technologies and services on the lives of everyday Australians.

“It affects practically every sector of the Australian economy,’’ he said.

He said $1.2 million would be spent on upgrading facilities to support commercial orbit and deorbit tracking of satellites and spacecraft.

Geoscience Australia investment in Tasmania would receive $9m over forward estimates for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) ground station infrastructure.

It would receive a further $1.2 million over forward estimates for the National Geodetic Radio Astronomy Facility.

Other institutions to benefit include the University of Tasmania’s Integrated Marine Observing System Satellite altimetry facility.

Among others are the Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine, which is a partnership between the Australian Antarctic Division, Australian and Tasmanian Governments, and the University of Tasmania.