Australian Space Discovery Centre launches at Lot Fourteen

Prime Minister Scott Morrison officially opened the Australian Space Discovery Centre, located at innovation precinct Lot Fourteen, Adelaide, on 31 March.

Children and young people will be inspired to dream big and consider a space career at the Discovery Centre when it opens to the public in May.

The Centre has a fully operational, state-of-the-art Mission Control Centre and hands-on experiences including touch screens and robots to inspire children and young people and spark curiosity.

The Prime Minister enthusiastically stated that Lot Fourteen is at the epicentre of Australia’s space aspirations. “The Australian Space Discovery Centre will be the go-to destination for curious minds to learn about the wonders of space and to see themselves as part of Australia’s space story,” the Prime Minister said.

The Hon Steven Marshall MP, Premier of South Australia, looks at exhibits with senior school students.

“But the Discovery Centre isn’t just for the young and the young at heart – the cutting-edge Mission Control Centre will enable our local space businesses to track and control their very own missions and satellites, providing critical new capability here on home soil.”

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the Australian Space Discovery Centre and Mission Control cemented South Australia as the space capital of Australia.

The Federal Government has an ambition to grow the size of the Australian space economy to $12 billion by 2030 and create an additional 20,000 jobs,” said the Premier.

“South Australia will lead this charge – and that’s a coup for our state. Young South Australians should have stars in their eyes.”

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the exciting national facilities are an investment in Australia’s future – including future jobs in space and other industries.

“Careers in space aren’t all about being an astronaut. From manufacturing, to engineering, space medicine, geology, AI and computing, there are thousands of opportunities being created in this rapidly-growing sector – and we want to inspire the next generation to consider one of these exciting jobs,” Minister Porter said.

Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher said that space was at the heart of a 10-year agreement to grow Adelaide as an innovative and vibrant city.

“The Adelaide City Deal sets out a plan to boost the economic and social vibrancy of Adelaide. The Discovery Centre and Mission Control Centre at Lot Fourteen will be an important part of this plan,” Minister Fletcher said.

Head of the Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo said the Mission Control Centre was part of the Agency’s Space Infrastructure Fund, targeting investment in common-user platforms to allow Australian businesses and researchers to focus on space-related solutions.

“We are establishing infrastructure for critical space flight and engineering capability. Companies and researchers at university will be able to utilise the Mission Control Centre for pre-flight testing, launch support, as well as communications during flight,” Mr Palermo said.

The Australian Space Discovery Centre will open to the general public in May following rigorous testing with community groups and other organisations throughout April.

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The Centre is being delivered in partnership between the Australian Space Agency and Questacon.

Since 1 July 2018, the Morrison Government has invested over $700 million into the Australian civil space sector as part of our goal to triple the sector’s size to $12 billion and create up to an extra 20,000 jobs by 2030.

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