Silentium Defence pioneers space domain technology

Adelaide-based Silentium Defence is a leader in passive radar technology, which promises to revolutionise the way objects in space are monitored from Earth.

Silentium’s Maverick S-series radar system at Woomera.

Adelaide-based small to medium enterprise Silentium Defence is developing world-leading technology that promises to revolutionise the way objects in space are monitored from the Earth.

The company is a pioneer in the development of passive radar technology, which uses reflected radio energy already broadcast into the atmosphere from sources such as commercial radio and television stations, to detect and track objects. Because it does not emit energy itself, it can “see without being seen”, and is also weather agnostic.

In the space domain, the ability to detect and track objects is important for two major reasons: Space is becoming increasingly congested, particularly in Low Earth Orbit (up to 2000km), where the commercialisation of space is adding hundreds of objects every month, exponentially increasing the risk of collision.

The second reason is more sinister. The proliferation of intercontinental missile capability in our region is growing rapidly and was dramatically underscored in October with China’s successful test of a hypersonic glide vehicle – described in US media as a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System – and North Korea’s reported test of a submarine-launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

Here in Australia, Defence is developing an Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) system – with an unspoken Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capability as an important subset – as a matter of priority.

A key element of this is a Space Domain Awareness program being developed under Joint Project 9360.

While the first tranche of capability will be ground-based optical sensors, JP9360 is carefully watching maturing technologies such as passive radar systems.

Silentium Defence was formed in 2017 and has developed its Maverick family of passive radar systems for a range of applications – from commercial airspace management or drone surveillance, detection and tracking of objects on the battlefield, through to space surveillance.

“The form factors for size, weight and power are tailored for the different operational use cases across all three Maverick series systems, taking in everything from tactical situational awareness with the M-Series, all the way to Low Earth Orbit with the Maverick S-series,” explains Silentium CEO James Palmer.

“It shows we have a cost-effective, scalable detection and tracking solution that applies across objects which are small and close, through to objects which are still quite small, but a long way away.”

The company developed the Maverick S-series radar with assistance from the Defence Innovation Hub and Australian Space Agency and successfully demonstrated it at the Defence Science and Technology Group’s SpaceFest events at Woomera in 2019 and 2020.

In May 2020, Silentium was awarded a $3.2m contract to continue Maverick S-series development under Phase 2 of the DIH process and in July this year it won a further two-year $7.4m contract to deliver its Maverick M-series to the Australian Army for evaluation.

“We’re seeing good market traction across all three market segments and significant growth potential in the technology we’re developing,” Palmer says.

“In terms of export, we’re leaning forward heavily on the international front and we see significant opportunities on the horizon.”