New Delhi: Karen Andrews, the Australian Minister of Industry, Science and Technology said that the space agencies of Australia and India are working together to place Indian tracking facilities temporarily in Australia. This new collaboration will further support India's planned human space flight programme.
While virtually addressing the Bengaluru Tech Summit 202, Andrews said this includes space life sciences, robotics, and earth observation and data analytics. The combined mission will lead India becoming the fourth nation in the world to send a crew into space.
Under the Gaganyaan mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to put an Indian in the space by 2022.
The space cooperation between the two countries is supported by a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by both the countries in 2012. The Deputy Consul General of Australia, Micheal Costa said that India and Australia have been collaborating since the year 1987.
It was in June 2020, when both the countries turned their bilateral relationship into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership through a virtual summit. The countries placed agreements on emerging technology, cybersecurity, and critical minerals. Australia has announced $ 15 million for facilitating Australi-India collaboration
Both of the countries have also worked together to preserve and promote a free, open, and safe Internet.
The CEO of Southern Launch, an Australian company which provides rocket launch infrastructure and services, Lloyd Damp talked about how the country's geographical location, wide-open spaces, and low light pollution has unique advantages in the space. All of this together makes Australia, an ideal partner for any country for space traffic management activities, remote asses management, world-leading earth management services, and so on.