SmartSat CRC formally launches Aurora Space Startup Cluster

The SmartSat CRC has launched the Aurora Space Startup Cluster, a new company with over sixty-five member companies. The Cluster represents every part of Australia’s space supply chain, from rocket launch services, in-space computing, precision sensors, satellite digital twin technology, in-orbit and deep space operations, right through to ground station antennae development and Earth data applications for agriculture, resources and sustainability management.

The Aurora Space Startup Cluster aims to provide a framework for startups to grow together in commercial collaborations with one another, with research organisations, and with local and international primes, to win business, commercialise leap-frog R&D, and build world-class capabilities in ways that would otherwise be difficult by themselves.

“Startups are, by definition, companies looking to grow fast by leveraging new technologies and disruptive business models,” says Chairman Dr Tim Parsons, who chaired the Aurora Steering Group in the past year through its formation phase and is current Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA). “If we’re to have any chance of meeting the nation’s ambitious growth targets for space, we need to help our space startups grow faster, in technical readiness level, in capability to execute, and commercial acumen.”

A brand identity for Aurora has also been established, reflecting the organisation’s goal to help its members grow, soaring upwards to break through the boundary between Earth and space.

Aurora’s Inaugural Board is comprised of Directors Andrew Barton (Southern Launch), Troy McCann (Moonshot), Chair Dr Tim Parsons (Delta-V Newspace Alliance), Conrad Pires (Picosat Systems), and Dr Anastasia Volkova (FluroSat), together with Prof Andy Koronios and Peter Nikoloff representing SmartSat CRC.