Bureau of Meteorology to launch new space weather hub at Lot Fourteen in 2022

Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen will get a new occupant next year – a specialised hub watching for damaging solar flares and radiation storms.

South Australia will be better prepared for the damaging effects of solar flares and radiation storms after the Bureau of Meteorology opens a space weather hub at Lot Fourteen next year.

As part of the bureau’s Space Weather Service, a team of top scientists and researchers will move to the technology precinct on North Terrace, where it will forecast the weather in the space environment between the sun and Earth.

Space weather events, such as sudden eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, can disrupt GPS navigation and radio signals.

The eruptions can cause solar radiation storms and associated solar flares that can damage satellites and interfere with Australia’s electrical grid.

BoM space industry lead Zandria Farrell and Space Weather Services project manager Rebecca Kuster with SA Premier Steven Marshall at Lot Fourteen. Picture: Matt Loxton

A slew of Lot Fourteen-based space and defence companies will directly benefit from the new hub, located alongside the Australian Space Agency.

Myriota, one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country, operates a network of nine satellites, which will expand to 44 by the end of next year. It is planning to launch the first ever SA-made satellite into low-Earth orbit next year, working together with other Lot Fourteen space companies Inovor and SmartSat CRC.

Last month Microsoft and Nokia joined forces, announcing they would set up a team at Lot Fourteen to develop new bushfire protection products using satellite imagery, AI analytics and 5G.

Announcing the new space weather hub, Premier Steven Marshall said it was “another important piece to the space industry puzzle” at the precinct.

“SA is home to more than 90 space-related organisations, making the state the undisputed national centre of Australia’s space industry,” he said.

SA space companies will be better prepared for damaging solar flares heading towards Earth. Picture: AP/NASA

Federal environment minister Sussan Ley said the new hub would help the space and defence industries better prepare for space weather events.

“Events such as solar flares can disrupt services we’ve come to rely on in everyday life,” she said.

“The bureau monitors and forecasts space weather in much the same way it does weather here on Earth.

“And they provide important advice to (the space) industry, enabling them to reduce the risks of these impacts.” Finance minister and SA senator Simon Birmingham said the hub would open next year, providing more expertise to the rapidly growing sector.

“SA is the centre of space research and technology in Australia, already employing around 1400 people,” he said.

“It’s only fitting that the bureau’s space weather team joins the ranks in Adelaide.”

Eighteen staff, including scientists, researchers and customer engagement specialists, will be based at the hub.

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