31, Jul, 2010

Australia to Develop Space Program

Written by spacetravel.org

Thursday, 23 July 2009 16:26

The Australian government has dedicated a large sum of money toward developing a space program. In May 2009, the government allocated AUS$48.6 million of the federal budget to develop an Australian Space Science Program over the next four years. Of this AUS$40 will go towards an Australian Space Research Program and AUS$8.6 million towards a Space Policy Unit.

On July 13, a spokesperson for Science and Innovation Minister Kim Carr confirmed that the Space Policy Unit had been established on July 1. The Space Policy Unit will act as a contact point for Australia's national and international activities in space.

Two years ago the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee for Space Science drafted a plan to put Australia in space which depended on the federal government providing $100m over ten years. Although the government never provided a formal response to the plan, Iver Cairns of Sydney University, chair of the committee, said that a public consultation about a competitive grants program thatis part of the space science program, as well as the budget allocations, were informal signs of the government's commitment.

The last time Australia launched a satellite was in 1967. Since then, no spacecraft has been launched from Australian territory.

Australia could contribute to NASA's plan to go back to the Moon by around 2020.

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