NASA Artemis moon mission to be supported by Seven Sisters consortium

NASA plans to return people to the surface of the moon in 2024, but an Australian consortium will be going there the year before.

An Australian consortium will be sending satellites and sensors to the moon to support the return of humans to the lunar surface in 2024.

NASA’s Artemis program hopes to return to the moon as well as land the first woman on there, with the hope of building a base that could support interplanetary travel.

The year before NASA sends its astronauts back to the moon, Adelaide-based Fleet Space Technologies will send nanosatellites and an array of sensors to support the mission, as part of a consortium of companies involved in the Seven Sisters program.

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The Seven Sisters consortium will support NASA's Artemis mission.

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Fleet Space CEO Flavia Tata Nardini said it will support NASA’s mission with “high-maturity systems” with “proven capabilities in the most demanding environments on Earth”.

Other members of the consortium include OZ Minerals, University of Adelaide, UNSW, Unearthed, Tyvak Australia and Fugro.

The program has been named Seven Sisters after a constellation with links to Aboriginal astronomy and Ancient Greek mythology.

The Seven Sisters were companions of the Greek goddess Artemis.

The program is intended to support the NASA mission as well as establish Australia as a leader in space exploration by the end of the decade, with the hope of creating thousands more hi-tech jobs along the way.

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A Fleet Space Technologies satellite.

Seven Sisters mission director Matt Pearson said this was the “space race Australia can win”.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall welcomed the announcement, saying it was another boost to the state’s “booming” space industry.

“We are fortunate to have some of the brightest minds in space living and working here in South Australia and it is fantastic to see what can be achieved when these minds come together,” Mr Marshall said.

“Together we have the power to unlock the infinite possibilities of the space sector — we are clever, we are innovative and we have the resources to do it,” he added.

Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research director Professor Andrew Dempster said we can build on the expertise we already have in this country from being a world leader in mining engineering research and automation.

“It makes a lot of sense for our young space industry to concentrate on an area of Australian strength.”

The consortium has also announced the Seven Sisters Explorers Program, which will provide a chance for Australian students and recent graduates interested in geoscience, engineering, computer science and robotics to join the moon mission.