Mr. Chris Hewett

As you say, the Australian Space Agency was established in 2018. In fact, the announcement was made at the 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which was held in Adelaide in Australia in 2017. So, it's true that we have existed as an agency for a relatively short time, but Australia has had a very long connection to space from the earliest days of space programs of Europe and the United States. Australia was very heavily involved as we had many space-related facilities around the country. For example, a space tracking station, at Honeysuckle Creek, in the mountains behind Canberra, which was used during the United States’ Mercury and Apollo missions. We also had launch facilities in Woomera, which were used by the very early European space programs carried out by the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), the predecessor of European Space Agency (ESA). So, Australia has a long history in space, but it was really not until 2018 or 2017 that the Australian Government recognized the necessity of a space agency, and that was because they realised the opportunity of space 2.0 and the commercially driven space sector. This reflects a belief in Australian industry to compete on the global stage.

The establishment of a space agency is to ensure that Australia can take full benefit from the growing commercial space sector. Our agency has five core functions:

• Leading and coordinating space policy across our government, namely federal government, and governments of the states and territories.

• Shaping and growing Australia's space capabilities, delivering over 70 space sector facing procurements and grants to industry and research organizations across the country in the five years that we've existed, including for the Australian Rover, known as “Roo-ver”, which will be journeying with NASA to the Moon in a few years to come.

• Leading on Australia’s international civil space partnerships, which are vitally important in enabling Australia to contribute and participate in international space endeavors.

• Promoting a responsible space sector through guidance and regulation, as we are the regulator of the space sector in Australia. We have a clear set of rules for commercial activity concerning launches from Australia and return of space objects to Australia.

• - Advancing the understanding of space by the Australian public with our public outreach and public education function. These are also very important in developing the next generation of the space workforce in Australia. We have the Australian Space Discovery Centre in Adelaide. We also operate several programs that educate the Australian public, aimed at all different levels of education or different levels of schooling.

So that is an overview of the Agency, our history and our current functions.

Mr. Chris Hewett

We felt very privileged to co-host the APRSAF annual meeting in November 2024 because we see it as a very important regional forum and space is inherently an international undertaking, consisting of the activities of individual countries and now commercial companies.

Mr. Hewett at the APRSAF-30

Space is an environment that needs to be managed on a global scale to ensure that it remains open for use by all countries, now and into the future. So, we really appreciate and fully support the objectives of APRSAF and JAXA, to bring the regional community of space agencies together, to create that community of space agencies, who have similar ambitions for the free and open use of space, to ensure that space remains a peaceful domain in which humanity can continue to operate, and to continue to benefit from, long into the future. Hosting the APRSAF annual meeting was an opportunity for us to demonstrate that and also an opportunity to have a dialogue across the region on these issues. On top of that, of course, it was a fantastic opportunity to show off Perth and Western Australia, which is a part of the world that that many people don't get to. So, we were very happy to be able to give our space community colleagues in the region the opportunity to visit Perth.

There were a number of important outcomes for us from having the APRSAF annual meeting in Perth. It helped to raise the profile of Australia's space capabilities and one of the key elements in that was co-hosting the Space Industry Workshop (SIWS). We had a really good turn out of local industry and so the delegates attending the annual meeting could get a sense of what Australian industry can offer.

Mr. Hewett leading a discussion at Space Industry Workshop (SIWS) at the APRSAF-30

It provided a really fantastic opportunity for the space industry, researchers, and educators to engage with their counterparts across the region and to establish new networks and collaborative projects. A really good example of that, and one of the main outcomes is that the Pacific Community was represented there for the first time and provided a report at the plenary session. We hope to see them to continue attending the meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to thank JAXA and the APRSAF secretariat for the opportunity to co-host the APRSAF meeting and for how seamlessly it ran. I know there was a lot of activity going on in the background. But the fact that it ran so well is really a testament to the JAXA team and to the team from the Australian Space Agency.
I would also like to acknowledge the special support provided by the Western Australian Government which also contributed to the success of APRSAF-30.

Mr. Chris Hewett

It certainly is. For example, we are keen to help the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), the co-host agency of APRSAF-31 in 2025. APRSAF-31 will be on 18-21 November 2025, which follows very closely on 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) to be held on 29 September - 3 October 2025 in Sydney, Australia. So, we will promote APRSAF-31 at IAC and remind regional partners that it's a very important forum. We hope that the Pacific community will also participate at IAC and encourage them to attend APRSAF-31 from there. We would like them to have a greater attendance at APRSAF-31.

Having the privilege to host APRSAF-30 was also a great opportunity to hold the KIBO-ABC workshop in Perth and we look forward to continuing to see young Australians participate in this great program in future years.

Mr. Chris Hewett

In fact, this is a really important area of policy for us. Australia is committed to the development and implementation of rules and norms in space that seek to support the safety, stability, and sustainability of outer space, including the implementation of the United Nations’ guidelines on the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. And this is because space is such an important environment for providing benefits to Earth because we draw on space in so many ways to enrich and to make safer and to understand our environment, our economy, and our society. It's really important that space remains open. So, we have to manage it sustainably and the only way to do that is to work together globally, for all countries to operate under established rules and norms in space.

At the moment, Australia is working across government to develop a sustainability of space activities policy. That means that we will be able to guide our local sector in the sustainable use of space. And we hope that it gives us a stronger platform from which we can advocate internationally for the sustainable use of space.

Mr. Chris Hewett

We're very excited about Expo 2025 this year. We're working closely with Australian government agencies on the Australian Pavilion at Expo. And there will be a dedicated space exhibit which we are excited about. It will include a short film showcasing the beginning, present, and future of Australia in space. The film explores the connection between space and Australia's First Nations people and captures space’s role in protecting our planet. We often refer to our First Nations people as the world's first astronomers because of their deep and enduring understanding of the sky. The film will be on regular repeat in the Australian Pavilion and will be able to be seen several times each day. Also, very excitingly, Australian astronaut Ms. Katherine Bennell-Pegg will be at Osaka along with our Head of Agency, Mr. Enrico Palermo. They will visit Expo in May 2025 for a series of space themed events.

Mr. Chris Hewett

I think Asia-Pacific is home to some of the planet's best tech, geography, technology, talent, and conditions for the continued and rapid growth of the space sector. It is one of the fastest growing space geographies on the planet, and it is also highly diverse. If we consider the number of new space actors as well as countries such as Japan, South Korea, and India, the Asia-Pacific holds some of the most dynamic and the fastest growing space economies in the world. And we are very excited to be part of that economy. Even looking beyond those larger space economies, across the rest of the Asia Pacific, there is a very significant interest for the use of space, and we saw that at APRSAF-30. Not only was it the first representation of the Pacific Community at an APRSAF meeting but it was also the first time that Bhutan had been represented. And we see space sectors growing all over Southeast Asia with space technology such as in Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. And in 2022, I had the pleasure of being at APRSAF-28 in Vietnam. I saw their strong interest, growth, and capabilities in space as well.

Mr. Chris Hewett

There is certainly room for growth. Whilst our region has been a long-term user of space for the environmental benefits, security, and communications, there are certainly many more areas where we can work together to utilise space to a greater extent. One of the things that we are actually most excited about in terms of new cooperation and growth is the potential for space fight in our region. We believe that Australia has an opportunity to become an important space flight center for the region because of our excellent geography that enables Equatorial or deep Southern latitude launch into whatever orbit is required. Combined with sparsely populated lands, our clear sky, our educated workforce, and well-developed regulatory framework, Australia will become a key provider of space flight services to other Asia-Pacific spacefaring nations. And we welcome another area of collaboration. In November 2024, the Bureau of Meteorology of Australia and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) signed a Strategic Relationship Arrangement to enhance their longstanding collaboration on satellite meteorology which includes the opportunity to be part of the new Japanese Himawari-10 program. We are really excited to be part of the Himawari-10 program and look forward to the program providing us with really critical regional capabilities that help us understand the weather in this part of the world. This collaboration will go a long way towards reducing the effects of extreme weather events, and saving lives.

Mr. Chris Hewett

Australia has a long history of fully contributing to APRSAF activities and one of the legacies of APRSAF-30 will certainly be the activities that were established and initiated through those working groups. The Australian Space Agency has had an ongoing contribution to the Kibo-ABC initiative for example, and we would absolutely intend to continue that. It is an important initiative in educating our youth in the potentialities of space. I think that particularly from this last APRSAF meeting, what we are quite excited about contributing is the AquaWatch Australia program from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's scientific organization. This program will not only contribute to building collaborative links and networks across our space community, but will help build an understanding of water resources across the region; which is obviously a really critical data set, given the changes to climate that we are expecting over the next decades. So, we look forward to continuing to work with APRSAF participants and contributing to APRSAF-31 in the Philippines in 2025.