Leonardo lands at Lot Fourteen

Business Development Manager – Space George Coulloupas will lead Leonardo Australia’s presence at Lot Fourteen.

One of the world’s top ten players in aerospace, defence and security has joined the South Australian space ecosystem at Lot Fourteen in partnership with the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre.

Leonardo is one of the Italy’s leading industrial companies with annual revenues of AU$23 billion. It also has a significant industrial presence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Poland. Leonardo is establishing a local foothold for its space service business through its subsidiary e-GEOS – in partnership with SmartSat CRC, which is based at Lot Fourteen. e-GEOS is a joint venture between Telespazio – Leonardo’s subsidiary – and the Italian Space Agency.

As a prominent provider of the European Copernicus program, e-GEOS supports rapid security and disaster response operations all over the world, including providing Australian fire authorities with rapid mapping during recent bushfires.

Leonardo was welcomed to Lot Fourteen this week by Premier Steven Marshall. Space and defence are two of the high value, deep tech industry focus sectors at Lot Fourteen, also home of the Australian Space Agency, and pioneering space industry companies including Myriota, Inovor Technologies and Neumann Space. The Mission Control Centre andAustralian Space Discovery Centre are set to open at the precinct in 2021.

“South Australia is the defence and space capital of the country and it’s fantastic to see another incredible international company choosing SA to do business,” Premier Marshall said.

“The strong interest being shown by major national and international players is a coup for South Australia and is further evidence that Lot Fourteen is a magnet for business and jobs.

“The addition of Leonardo to Lot Fourteen cements my government’s strong commitment to create a once-in-a-generation hub that will generate thousands of jobs for South Australians now and into the future.”

As a dominant worldwide supplier in the space sector, Leonardo aims to collaborate with the Australian space industry to stimulate local growth and competitiveness in global markets.

Leonardo Australia Executive Chairman Michael Lenton said the company and e-GEOS were keen to help the Australian space industry grow.

“Lot Fourteen is the beating heart of Australia’s space activity,” he said. “It is where the future of Australia’s Space capability is being created.

Leonardo and e-GEOS have so much space expertise to bring, technology to transfer and experience to share. How could we not be part of this thrilling venture?”

SmartSat CRC Chief Executive Officer Professor Andy Koronios said Leonardo Australia and SmartSat would work together to harness local expertise and develop competitive business opportunities with their global partners, leading to job creation and industry growth.

Defence SA and South Australian Space Industry Centre Chief Executive Richard Price said the arrival of Leonardo was a major milestone for the South Australian space ecosystem.

“Leonardo can leverage decades of expertise and experience in space programs and plays a crucial role in several important space missions such as the Galileo global navigation system, Copernicus, COSMO-SkyMed, Prisma (Hyperspectral Precursor), ExoMars and Rosetta missions as well as the International Space Station.

Leonardo Australia’s partnership with SmartSat is a key driver in the company’s strategy to grow its presence in the space industry within the Oceania region and to develop joint research and commercialisation opportunities.

George Coulloupas, Business Development Manager – Space of Leonardo Australia, will lead the company’s presence at Lot Fourteen. He has extensive Australian- based experience in start-up innovation, space-derived service commercialisation and primary research in next generation satellite systems.

Leonardo listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in 2019 and recorded consolidated revenues of €13.8 billion and invested €1.5 billion in research and development. The group has been part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) since 2010 and became Industry leader of Aerospace & Defence sector of DJSI in 2019.

The SmartSat CRC brings together over 100 national and international partners who have invested over $190 million, along with $55 million in Federal Government funding under its Cooperative Research Centres Program, in a $245 million research effort over seven years.

Working closely with the Australian Space Agency, SmartSat will make a strong contribution to the Australian Government’s goal of tripling the size of the space sector to $12 billion and creating up to 20,000 jobs by 2030.

Priority industry sectors for SmartSat include telecommunications, agriculture and natural resources, transport and logistics, mining, and defence and national security.

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