CUAVA and Wolfpack Space Hub launch Australia’s first satellite ride-share competition

The Australian Research Council Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications (CUAVA), in partnership with Wolfpack Space Hub, announce the launch of the Waratah Seed Space Qualification Mission Payload Competition, Australia’s first cube satellite ride-share opportunity.

The Waratah Seed Payload Competition will provide valuable assistance and mentoring to NSW space businesses and start-ups, and potentially a ‘ride’ on the Waratah Seed Space Qualification Mission’s first CubeSat WS1, due to launch in late 2022.

The Waratah Seed Consortium is a partnership between CUAVA, centred at the University of Sydney, ACSER at the University of NSW, Saber Astronautics, Delta-V NewSpace Alliance, Macquarie University, and the University of Technology Sydney.

The Waratah Seed WS1 Mission will launch a satellite carrying payloads developed by NSW space businesses and start-ups. The WS1 Payload Competition represents an exciting opportunity for space start-ups to gain valuable space heritage in orbit, enabling them to demonstrate the viability of their payloads to operate in space at considerably reduced cost.