Space, NT’s final frontier

THE Northern Territory is in a perfect position to launch into the next frontier with the Australian Space Agency

THE Northern Territory is in a perfect position to launch into the next frontier with the Australian Space Agency.

With an emerging space industry of its own and location close to the equator, the Top End has all the components needed to help Australia get a slice of the $420 billion space industry.

Federal Innovation Minister Michaelia Cash announced yesterday that $15 million in funding would be given to kickstart work at the national space agency which commences on July 1.

As part of the funds, a search for the home state of the new agency headquarters will be conducted.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the Territory was a perfect spot for the space industry to thrive and he’s not alone. Equatorial Launch Australia CEO Carley Scott, whose company is developing a rocket launching facility in Arnhem Land, describes the Top End as an “ideal location” for Australian space exploration.

The Federal Government thinks the space industry has the potential to create 20,000 jobs.

A jobs boom like that could bring much-needed relief to the declining population growth in the Territory right now, which is forecast at -0.7 per cent.

Chamber of Commerce NT chief executive Greg Bicknell said he blamed the drop in numbers on a lack of economic activity in the Territory and the completion of the Inpex construction. “If things keep going the way they are and we don’t draw in more people somehow, we’ll be seeing major impacts in GST revenue soon, which will be a huge hit to the economy” he said.