📋 Tender Overview
New Australian space startup Quasar Satellite Technologies is set to revolutionise space communication allowing ground stations to talk to hundreds of satellites at once using technology developed by CSIRO Australias national science agency.Over the next decade more than 57000 satellites will be launched worldwide to support a surge in demand for space-derived data from environmental monitoring such as bushfires and floods to connecting to sensors on Internet of Things networks. However with present-day ground stations typically tracking one satellite at a time heavy congestion is expected to limit the potential of satellites and the downstream industries they support.Launched today Quasar is backed by 12 million in funding technology and industry expertise from CSIRO Main Sequence the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist Engineer and Australian companies Vocus Saber Astronautics Fleet Space Technologies and Clearbox Systems.Quasar will look to capitalise on the US130 billion satellite ground communications market using technology developed by CSIRO for radio telescopes like its own ASKAP telescope in Western Australia.CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said after helping receive images of humans on the Moon fifty years ago the commercialisation of this breakthrough research would now help put more Australians into new jobs in the growing space industry.CSIRO has been a leader in radio astronomy and spacecraft communications for more than 60 years from supporting the Moon landing in 1969 to inventing and delivering the phased-array feeds in Australias newest radio telescope ASKAP in Western Australia Dr Marshall said.CSIROs technology breakthrough enabled the world to connect without wires using fast WiFi and now our technology will help connect satellites using our breakthrough phased array technology.Quasar CEO Phil Ridley a telecommunications veteran behind some of Australias pioneering internet services like BigPond and Vividwireless said the technology would enable new satellite-based business models and opportunities previously hindered by legacy ground station technology.Space is the highway of the stars but current ground station technology is the equivalent of one-lane on-ramps Mr Ridley said.By making it possible to communicate with hundreds of satellites simultaneously well be able to ensure the thousands of satellites launching over the next decade have a way to call home efficiently.CSIRO commercialisation specialist and a founding Director of Quasar Dr Ilana Feain said bringing together state of the art technology private investment and industry expertise gave Quasar a strong head start.CSIROs phased array technology revolutionised radio astronomy by enabling ASKAP to see enormous portions of the sky at once about 30 times the area that conventional telescopes could see Dr Feain said.Im excited to see the next evolution of this technology empower satellite businesses and their downstream industries.Quasar will offer the technology as a service enabling commercial and public sector partners to access data from satellites in low medium and geostationary orbit from anywhere in the world in the same way many cloud computing services work today.Quasar is building the technology using an Australian-based team with expertise and research support from CSIRO.Comments from partnersMartin Duursma Main Sequence partner said Australia is in the midst of building a strong globally competitive space sector. As one of our venture science collaborations Quasar holds the key to unlocking one of the biggest challenges the industry faces over the next decade and ensures we maximise the opportunities afforded to us in space.Jason Held CEO of Saber Astronautics said We look forward to working with Quasar to support this excellent technology in joining the space operations market.Flavia Tata Nardini Co-Founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies said Fleet Space has been heavily investing in beamforming advancements for our nanosatellite and strongly believe Quasars cutting-edge technology will change the dynamics of the Space industry. Having one beam-forming ground station simultaneously service multiple satellites will eliminate congestion in LEO where there is a need to compete for a limited number of available ground stations globally. We are very proud to be a part of Quasar and contribute to the vision of the team.Jeremy Hallett CEO of Clearbox Systems said Weve been delivering satellite communications technology for over a decade. In that time weve seen the market need for satellite ground communications explode however the technology has never been adequate for the requirement. Thats why were backing Quasar. This is the right technology and the right team delivering into the market at the right time.Michael Ackland National General Manager Government and Special Projects at Vocus said Quasars breakthrough ground-station technology is a perfect fit with Vocus extensive regional fibre network which is enabling satellite constellation operators through innovative ground infrastructure. Were excited to be a part of Quasar building the next generation of ground-station-as-a-service in the era of new space technologies.
