SmartSat CRC is Australia’s leading space research centre and a driving force for developing Australia’s space sector by supporting world-class research. The Australian National University is a core partner of SmartSat CRC.
SmartSat/ACT Space Hub
OzFuel
The ANU Institute of Space and its partners will receive $1.3 million to contribute to the Resilience Mission Project, with the development of the OzFuel payload, a space-based sensor platform that will assist in bushfire prevention, detection, mitigation and resilience. Currently, fire management is dependent on an ageing fleet of foreign satellites that are not designed for monitoring Australian ecosystems and their associated fire risk. The OzFuel payload 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 will develop the critical optical telescope subsystem for OzFuel and develop the scientific know-how to convert the spectral data it acquires to actionable instructions on the ground that can be used for bushfire mitigation.
ANU team: Associate Professor Marta Yebra, Professor Rob Sharp, and Dr Nicolas Younes.
Industry partners: EOS Space Systems
SmartSat-backed Professorial Chairs
Professor Hanna Kurniawati, Professorial Chair for System Autonomy, Intelligence and Decision Making
"This partnership with SmartSat opens further opportunities for the Robotics team at the ANU School of Computing to further develop and deploy our decision-making technologies for reliable, robust, and safe robot operations in remote and harsh environments. Such technologies can lead to more efficient earth monitoring and safer maintenance of remote infrastructures."
Professor Kirk McKenzie, Professorial Chair of Precision Measurement in Space
"We’re partnering with local industry to build new laser instruments that better monitor Earth’s water. This technology, on missions like GRACE, can provide long term measurements of groundwater in the Murray-Darlin basin, quantify the effects drought and observe effects of the changing climate: icecap melt and sea level rise."
Other SmartSat funded projects
- Optical Channel Modelling Scoping Study
- Compact Hybrid Optical-RF User Segment (CHORUS)
- Ultra-fine Attitude Control via Event-based Star Tracking and Piezoelectric Stabilisation
- Lunar Ground Station Feasibility Study
- Q-Pathfinder – Quantum Enhanced Secure Communications for Small Satellites and IoT
- AquaWatch Pathfinders: Earth Observation Sensor Design Simulator Testbed (End to End Simulator)
- 2021 CHORUS Phase 2 Agreement
- OzFuel Phase A
- SmartSat UK-Australia Space Bridge: Towards a Federated Quantum Key Distribution System the Austral
- Hybrid Space-Based Cameras for Target Uncertainty
- Space Jeopardy and Response (S-JAR)
- WildFireSat Mission & Australian Bushfire Mgt
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