Industry leaders, academics, Defence and Government representatives are among the appointments announced to Australia's newly established Space Industry Innovation Council (Space IIC). “We have drawn together some of Australia’s best minds from across research and industry to advise the Government on building our capabilities in this key growth area,” said Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr. “Space technology is not confined in its application to astronauts and outer space – it has a very real impact on our daily life. Telecommunications, monitoring and predicting the weather, even transport networks rely on these systems.
The Space IIC is expected to hold its first meeting in February to establish a schedule for earth observation, satellite communications and navigation.
The Space IIC will have significant hurdles to overcome. While Australia doesn’t even so much as have a satellite to its name (weather reports come from international satellites), the Space ICC falls under a Federal government commitment of $48.6 million over four years, which works out to be a meager average of $12 million per year for the entire Australian science program.
The Space IIC members are:- Dr Rosalind Dubs (Chair)
- Mr Brett Biddington, Chair, Australian Space Industry Chamber of Commerce (ASICC)
- Mr Chris Jenkins, Managing Director, Thales Australia
- Mr Paul Sheridan, Director Satellites, Optus
- Dr Terry Stevenson, Chief Technology Officer, Raytheon Australia
- Dr Ben Greene, Chief Executive Officer, Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited
- Rob Lorimer, Position One consulting
- Dr Susan Anderson, R&D Tax Concession Manager, BAE Systems
- Dr Philip Diamond, Chief, CSIRO Astronomy & Space Sciences Division
- Professor Peter Hall, Professor of Radio Astronomy Engineering and Director of the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy
- Professor Andrew Parfitt, Pro Vice Chancellor, Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment, University of South Australia
- Ms Naomi Mathers, Research Scientist & Program Developer, Victorian Space Science Education Centre
- Dr David Nayagam, Astronaut candidate with the European Space Agency
- Dr Roger Lough, former Chief Defence Scientist
- Dr Sue Barrell, Observations and Engineering Branch, Bureau of Meteorology
- Dr Chris Pigram, Chief of Division, Geospatial and Earth Monitoring Division, Geoscience Australia
- Dr Michael Green, General Manager Innovation
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