The New Zealand Space Agency has signed a space science and technology partnership agreement with the Australian space research organization, the SmartSat Co-operative Research Centre.
The partnership is an opportunity to work together to solve joint trans-Tasman challenges. Research enabled by this agreement will support efforts to promote the safe and responsible use of space, better use aerospace-enabled data in primary industries, and advance world-leading technology to improve communications.
It builds on similar successful international space science partnerships with NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Under this agreement, up to $6 million will be made available from the Government’s Catalyst Fund to support New Zealand researchers to participate in collaborative research projects through Australia’s SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre. The projects will focus on Earth observation, space situational awareness, and optical communications.
Earth observation projects help unlock information about the environment and climate by observing the Earth from high altitude and space. This data can help monitor biosecurity risks and manage crops.
Space situational awareness projects will help to develop new ways to monitor the orbital environment and be at the forefront of global sustainable space activities.
Optical communications projects investigate more efficient methods for sending large volumes of data between Earth and space and support future space exploration.
A call for proposals is planned in the coming months to aim for successful projects to start in the second half of 2024.
