Tory Shepherd: Why SA needs to be our nation’s mission control
ANALYSIS: A national space agency will fuel billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and decades of dreams. In this state, many elements of the space industry are already in place.
HISTORY will be made in Adelaide today when our first national space agency is announced.
The agency will fuel billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and decades of dreams. It’s an exceedingly rare political moment too, when the major parties are perfectly aligned.
Last year, when New Zealand created the NZ Space Agency, Australia was left like a lonely piece of space junk.
It was the only developed nation not to have an agency to call its own.
When the Space Industry Association of Australia called on the Federal Government to put one in place, it described it as a critical part of forming a cohesive national strategy.
Australia has less than 1 per cent of the $400 billion global industry as it stands; SIAA says we can increase that fivefold within 20 years.
When Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Arthur Sinodinos announced a review of our capabilities, it seemed inevitable the reference group charged with the job would recommend an agency.
But inevitable things have a nasty habit of becoming evitable in our time of hyperpartisan politics and endless reviews. Not in this case.
Not only will the Federal Government announce the agency — with its exact shape yet to be determined — but Labor will today announce its own policy for an agency.
The State Government was already on board and has been relentless in outlining the case for an agency with SA at its core. In this state, many elements of the space industry are already in place. We have dozens of space-related organisations, an action plan, the SA Space Industry Centre.
And we have the burning need for jobs and for a future in advanced manufacturing.
Space ties neatly into our burgeoning Defence industry as many of the major players work in both spheres. Add to that the exciting research and development already under way in our universities and private companies.
This week there will be a stratospheric buzz around space; our own astronaut Andy Thomas is in town for the International Astronautical Congress, and so is Buzz Aldrin. And so are thousands of less-famous names working to connect humans on Earth and to send them to Mars.
With scant detail about the agency until the review is finished, SA needs to keep that buzz going until we are assured of our part in the national and global industry. Given the current levels of enthusiasm, the chances that September 25 goes down in history, as a small step towards giant leaps forward in space, are stellar.