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South Australia has rocketed ahead as a national leader in the development and application of space technology and Lot Fourteen is the launch site for much of the industry’s growth in Australia.

Australia’s space industry launch pad

South Australia has rocketed ahead as a national leader in the development and application of space technology – one of the world’s fastest expanding industries – and Lot Fourteen is the launch site for much of the sector’s growth in Australia.

Our precinct is home to the Australian Space Agency, the Australian Space Discovery Centre and Mission Control Centre, and the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Here you will also find pioneering home-grown start-ups including Inovor Technologies, Myriota, and Neumann Space, as well as multinationals such as Italy’s SITAEL and Canada’s Lux Aerobot.

Leading edge innovation and a rich heritage

South Australia offers both leading edge innovation and a rich heritage in the space industry, stretching back to 1947 when the Woomera Rocket Range was established by the British and Australian governments to develop long-range missiles.

Today, the state has more than 90 private companies, research and educational institutions and government departments in this sector, including the South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC).

space innovation

The state government is strongly backing the further growth of the space industry by developing Lot Fourteen as a world-class entrepreneurial precinct with supporting infrastructure for innovators to collaborate and grow.

This commitment to the space industry was further exemplified by the announcement in January 2021 that a satellite, to be built at Lot Fourteen in collaboration with resident start-ups, would become the first to be put into space by an Australian state government. The project is part of the $6.5 million, ground-breaking SASAT1 mission in partnership with the precinct’s SmartSat CRC, Inovor Technologies and Myriota.

Industry growth

The South Australia Growth State Space Sector Strategy supports the Australian Space Agency’s major objective to triple the space industry’s contribution to national GDP to AUD$12 billion per year and create an additional 20,000 jobs by 2030. The strategy has three main pillars for growth:

Contribute to Australia’s national space strategy, including launches into accessible low earth orbits and food production in space under NASA’s Moon to Mars mission.
Capitalise on opportunities in the NewSpace economy, such as utilization of many small, connect satellites and use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to exploit space-derived data.
Cultivate South Australia as a centre-of-gravity for Australia’s expanding space activities by building a skilled workforce, innovative ecosystem, supportive infrastructure and a globally competitive trading environment that is attractive to investors.

Read the SASIC Space Sector plan