Congratulations to the OzFuel team!  

A major milestone was reached this week for our SmartSat CRC project with the demonstration of the OzFuel payload, a space-based sensor platform that will assist with bushfire prevention, detection, mitigation and resilience. 

It was a special moment for Professor Marta Yebra, Professor Rob Sharp, Dr Joice Mathew, Israel Vaughn and Dr Nicolás Younes, PhD who had gathered at the RSAA at Mt Stromlo to meet with SmartSat and demonstrate the OzFuel sensor and talk about its evolution.

What is special about the OzFuel Payload is that it is targeted to Australian conditions, specifically Eucalypts and will enable monitoring of Australian bushfire fuel flammability from space to identify areas of high risk. This project has not only developed the critical optical telescope subsystem for OzFuel but also the scientific know-how to convert the spectral data it acquires to actionable instructions on the ground that can be used for bushfire mitigation.

After many years of R&D we can show that we built a sovereign space capability, that solves two of Australia’s critical priorities, environmental sustainability and disaster resilience. 

Whilst this milestone demonstrates the maturity of the OzFuel concept and key technology components, further investment is required to complete payload development and progress towards a future flight opportunity.

Thanks to all involved from the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, AITC, ANU Institute for Space | InSpace, ACT Government, SmartSat CRC, New Frontier Technologies, KiwiStar Optics, Electro Optic Systems, Zendir, Spiral Blue, Leonardo UK and UNSW Canberra Space.
 

Photos: thanks to Natasha Disha