WA Universities turn their eye to space

NASA IS INTERESTED IN WHAT WESTERN

AUSTRALIA CAN DO IN TERMS OF REMOTE OPERATIONS.

When your multi-billion dollar engineering project is a dozen driving hours from the nearest town, the value of remote operations becomes clear.

It’s why Australia’s big miners and offshore gas sectors have invested heavily in robotic automation and remote operations capacity, allowing engineers to drive kilometre-long trains and operate drills or diggers from a desk half a continent away.

Now, West Australian research teams are using the same technology that keeps mines running at a distance to push into space, with the help of industry partners already invested in remote engineering.

Curtin University and the University of Western Australia have recently launched AROSE – the Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth consortium – with the partnership including the universities, state government of Western Australia and industry partners Woodside, Fugro and Nova Systems.

The partnership brings together hard-fought expertise in the use of remote engineering — both on land and in offshore gas fields — with the ambition of using this thinking for space.

Planetary geologist and joint West Australian Scientist of the Year Professor Phil Bland says Australian industry experience in remote operations is some of the best in the world.

“We can leverage industry expertise in Australia to take remote operations into space, and deliver solutions that benefit the Australia-NASA Moon-toMars program,” said Professor Bland, from Curtin’s Space Science and Technology Centre. “AROSE brings together the best of Australian industry with the most

advanced technology and leading WA scientists, on a project that has got deliverables in the economy and in research.”

Curtin’s contribution to the program is the development of CubeSats: tiny but fully functioning satellites that Professor Bland describes as “about the size of a small sandwich”.

Each CubeSat has all the systems required to operate, including the power, computer, steering and communications, on a single eight-layer printed circuit board making it highly efficient and lightweight — about 3kg compared to an ordinary satellite’s seven tonnes.

The university expects to send its lightweight CubeSat to hitch a ride on a re-supply rocket headed for the International Space Station this year, and has partnered with the European Space Agency, which will provide mission control for the launch into low Earth orbit.

Unlike many CubeSats, Curtin’s is the result of lots of testing, to understand the limits of the technology.

“It’s possible to build a CubeSat really with off-the-shelf systems and the vast majority of people do that, but doing it that way you don’t really learn anything,” Professor Bland said.

“You also don’t want to break it because it can be $250,000 and

therefore you don’t want to test it to destruction. "We‘ve managed to compress the whole thing onto an eight-layer circuit board, and the good thing is we can build them all ourselves, churn them out, test them to destruction and make a new iteration that works better.”

While the technology is a significant advance, it is the combination of research with local industry knowledge that could be the game-changer.

Fugro is a Dutch geo-data specialist that runs a world-class Remote Operations Centre from Gnangara, in Perth’s northern suburbs.

The centre is already used to control subsea maintenance robots operating 4km below the surface on the North West Shelf as well as operate machinery across vast distances.

It will now test that remote operation capacity on the Curtin CubeSat, when it is launched later this year, including its advances in reducing latency — the time delay in the transfer of data over distance.

“Latency is the issue when you have an asset there at the bottom of the ocean that is talking to the ship hovering above it, and the ship is talking to your satellite, and your satellite is beaming back to Perth,” Professor Bland said.

“All of that has a time delay and when you are doing a delicate operation you have to be aware of that. If your robot is moving a bit, it will have moved by the time you have got the message. “That latency issue magnifies massively when you are operating spacecraft because of the light delay to the moon or Mars. It could be several seconds for the moon or 10s of minutes for Mars. You want to have operations that can cope with that and you want to develop more intelligent assets that need to be semi-autonomous on the ground.”

While that makes engineering at a distance a challenge, WA was in a strong position to lead the world, Professor Bland said.

The work of the consortium and its partners is expected to improve WA's economy by $196 million a year within five years and create more than 1,500 jobs in the state.

“NASA is really interested in what Western Australia can do in terms of remote operations,” he said.

“One aspect of AROSE is to make a really good case to NASA as to why we can be the provider of remote operations on the moon. "The great thing for our industry partners is that they can work with the ultimate in mission control and have cross-over protocols with the best space agencies in the world.”

Ruth Callaghan | AFR

Sovereign Space and Defence rocket company, Black Sky Aerospace is going beyond the blue.

They may ‘fly under the radar’, but after only two years since inception, Black Sky Aerospace (BSA) is developing critical sovereign technology driving launch for Australia’s Defence and space industries.

Based in South East QLD, an aerospace start-up who was barely known at the time, BSA made a bold statement in their first year of operations by launching Australia’s first commercial payloads on a sub-orbital sounding rocket in November 2018. Since then, BSA has continued to provide services and rapidly develop technology that is used widely by civilian and Defence organisations.

Working literally from the ground up, BSA has priority access to multiple launch sites across Australia. Located just outside of Goondiwindi, around 300km from Brisbane, BSA operates ‘Funny Farm Space’, the only civilian sub-orbital launch facility permitted to fly through and above controlled airspace in Australia. This site is utilised to test and certify propulsion systems and provide sub-orbital flights below 150km. BSA has now commenced development of a new undisclosed sub-orbital launch site boasting over 3,000,000 acres with a land based down range capacity of over 200km. This site will permit flights up to 500km and is expected to be operational by Q4 2020. An added benefit of using rural farming communities is to create new opportunities and jobs in regional Australia. BSA CEO, Blake Nikolic, said “The times remain challenging for farmers in remote areas and our facilities are creating diversification, driving economic benefit for these regions”.

In October 2019, Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) announced BSA’s priority access to one of the world’s most efficient launch locations, the Arnhem Space Centre in the Northern Territory. This is one of several formal arrangement between BSA and ELA who have forged a strong relationship in supporting a nascent space

industry. Together, the companies have developed a program known as the National Pathway Program (NPP), that provides ready access to optimal launch locations that have long been a challenge for rocket manufacturers worldwide. The NPP plays an important role supporting space businesses to more effectively pursue greater outcomes and ensure they are prepared for access to space. A seamless interaction and access to services for clients is achieved through the NPP, which allows new rocket technologies such as propulsion, avionics, ground support equipment, payloads, and guidance navigation and control, to be tested and qualified. This is completed at BSA’s facilities in Queensland, in preparation for orbital and deep-space launch from the Arnhem Space Centre.

Available to manufacturers and researchers who have commenced development of their technologies, the NPP has already demonstrated capacity to progress through development phases and deliver increasing Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) to support emerging technologies. In February 2020, BSA facilitated Australia’s first international sounding rocket campaign with UK partner, Raptor Aerospace.

Raptor Aerospace CEO, Ben Jarvis, says while the UK is likely to develop space ports which would allow some of the company’s commercial activities to take place in their home country, a site like Goondiwindi offered many advantages. Raptor Aerospace are now making plans to return to Australia in Q4 2020 for more advanced testing.

Blake Nikolic said Australia was playing an increased role in the world’s “space ambitions”. “This campaign with Raptor Aerospace is driving additional export opportunities for Black Sky’s technology, whilst solidifying Australia’s position as the place to conduct research and testing before undertaking expensive orbital launches,”.

In March 2020, BSA facilitated the successful firing of Australia’s first commercially developed liquid rocket engine. The ‘Momentum’ engine was developed and manufactured by a Brisbane company, Valiant Space, who specialises in propulsion technologies which will help propel the next generation of spacecraft to and from the surface of the Moon.

A core part of BSA’s business is Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) propulsion systems, which can be found in BSA’s launch vehicles. There are many challenges associated with importing from North America due to the International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR), so BSA sought to develop and manufacture SRM locally to ensure supply demands could be met and products remain economical.

SRM are well known for their simplistic, yet reliable and energetic characteristics. Consisting of an oxidiser, such as Ammonium Perchlorate, a fuel and binder, typically hydroxylterminated polybutadiene and additive metal fuels such as aluminium. SRM also require minimal ground support equipment unlike complicated liquid or hybrid systems, so they offer a rapid launch cadence and can easily launch from the ground, air and sea. BSA’s proprietary propulsion systems allow responsive launch, supporting campaigns of any size or specification from different launch sites including harsh environments for tactical reasons.

BSA continues to research and mature new technology and processes to maintain the competitive advantage. Critical for Defence and high-end applications, BSA utilises advanced manufacturing and energetics such as nitramines to achieve higher specific impulse (Isp) and loading density. This is essential for the development underway of BSA’s orbital program for Defence, providing responsive launch capabilities for small satellites below 50kg that can be launched from any platform - ground, sea or air.

BSA sounding rockets are designed to carry payloads greater than 400kg, able to reach altitudes in excess of

500km and are fully recoverable. Recovery of the launch vehicle and payload offers significant benefits to our clients, including physical examination of expensive instrumentation and detailed post flight inspections of specimens exposed to space environments. BSA can recover systems (land launches) within two hours after lift-off, allowing for quick time analysis of high-fidelity data from the payload that cannot be transmitted via telemetry during flight.

By combining BSA’s technology, facilities and processes, to support the growing demand of launches required, BSA created the Australian Sounding Rocket Program (ASRP), a comprehensive program designed to provide sub-orbital launch services to Australian and international organisations. The ASRP provides access to space environments above light pollution of the atmosphere and microgravity for scientific research.

The ASRP is also a testbed and intermediate step for advancing R&D of new technologies and improves best outcomes for orbital missions, all while offering lower costs to support developing technology and eliminating onerous international regulations. Many of BSA’s team have served in the military, which has provided extensive knowledge and experience with Defence, permitting harmonisation of technology by understanding national directions and practical operational demands. As we enter a new decade, the emergence of serious threats to national security is increasing. BSA’s technology is crucial to removing vulnerabilities in existing Defence capabilities. In particular, BSA's sovereign propulsion technology, capable of high-hypersonic speeds is being developed as a defensive mechanism for the protection of Australia and our allies. Being ITAR

free means it is also a vital export contribution. BSA understands the specific needs for Australia’s unique geographic position creating a strong emphasis on protecting our borders. BSA is proactively working on innovative Defence programs including, propulsion and energetics for weapon systems, sounding rocket flights for testing and development of systems, and hypersonic systems including boost motors, all of which are stable systems for launch from any platform. Through collaboration with government and researchers to develop enhanced technology, BSA’s streamlined approach to research and development of innovative sovereign technology is imperative to overcoming potential threats.

To contact or learn more about Black Sky Aerospace, visit https://bsaero. space

Dear Bruce.

A few short lines to explain the impact Bruce has already had on my life is surprisingly difficult. Not because I'm struggling to find things to say, but because the effect Bruce has had on my day-to-day life, in just four weeks, has been so vast.

I won’t bore you with my personal details, but when I first applied for the Defence Bank’s Community Dogs program I was not in a good way.

Then I met Bruce. Suddenly, it all became easier knowing I had someone who never criticised, never judged, and would stick by me no matter what.

I'm getting back into fitness, as Bruce loves his exercise. I'm engaging in conversations more readily, because the focus is almost always on Bruce rather than me. I'm actively trying to find ways to better myself, because I want the best possible life for Bruce.

That's not to say I don't still struggle sometimes. But when I do, guess who's first in line for a cuddle and to let their presence reassure me things will turn out okay?

My name is Thomas, and the Defence Bank’s Community Dogs program has almost certainly saved my life.

Thanks to Bruce.

Proudly supports

Your donation will help us keep the program running.