Tasmania to house HENSOLDT Space Domain Awareness System

HENSOLDT Australia, the Tasmanian Department of State Growth (DSG) and the University of Tasmania have signed an MoU to develop a sovereign Space Domain Awareness System in Tasmania.

The MoU is designed to help build up Tasmania as the centre for Space Domain Awareness in Australia. HENSOLDT Australia’s Hobart office, which was officially opened by Tasmanian Minister for Science & Technology Michael Ferguson, will be the centre for the Southern Guardian systems integration and data analysis, which will further fuel innovation and opportunities for both Defence and commercial space operations.

The new office signifies German firm HENSOLDT’s investment in developing a sovereign Australian Space Domain Awareness capability, together with the announcement of funding for a PhD scholarship at the University of Tasmania.

TEAM Tasmania is designed to create the Southern Guardian Space Domain Awareness System to develop a sovereign competitive advantage for the state and the nation.

Tasmania has first-class capability for sovereign projects, says Scott Reeman, VP Tasmania and GM strategy ANZ at HENSOLDT: “Tasmania’s southern location makes it ideally positioned to observe and track space objects, like satellites and space debris, in polar orbits.

“We have already commenced working with researchers at the University of Tasmania to refine approaches to object tracking and orbit projections and are very proud to fund a PhD candidate in this endeavour.”

The University of Tasmania manages an array of space infrastructure, capable of observing near-Earth orbiting objects, satellites and space debris and further afield objects including the tracking of distant space missions and asteroids.