• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • Perspectives
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

The Australian Government Department Of Defense To Establish A Space Division Within The Royal Australian Air Force

May 21, 2021

The launch of a DART rocket carrying a RAAF payload from Koonibba Rocket Range in South Australia.
Photo is courtesy of Sean Jorgensen-Day.

Australia’s Department of Defence will establish a Space Division headquarters within the Royal Australian Air Force in early 2022, with personnel from all areas within Defence reflecting the importance of the Space domain.

Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld AO, DSC, said assured access to Space was critical to enabling Defence’s multi-domain operations.

The Air Marshal said, “We use Space daily for understanding the weather, navigating, access to geospatial information and sharing information across Australia or across the world. Defence is delivering capabilities including Space domain awareness, sovereign controlled satellite communications and Space-based Earth observation, and navigation.

He continued, “The Government has committed to significantly increasing investment in Defence’s Space capabilities by investing around $7 billion this decade to ensure our access to Space, Space services and geospatial information. Defence will need capabilities that directly contribute to outcomes in Space as a contested domain, however this does not mean that Defence encourages the militarization of Space. All Space operations are conducted consistent with international and domestic legal obligations.”

As the Defence Space Domain lead, Air Marshal Hupfeld is conducting a Space Domain Review to improve how Space capabilities are managed, acquired and operated.

“I congratulate Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts selected as the inaugural Head of Defence Space Division – there is no person better suited for the job,” Air Marshal Hupfeld said.

Air Vice-Marshal Roberts said the position was a dream come true, stating, “To reach for the stars and actually get there is a phenomenal feeling. As an aerospace engineer, I have always been fascinated by space – the ultimate high-ground.”

Filed Under: Government, Military, Operations Tagged With: Featured

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • UPDATE 4: Virgin Orbit updates their "Start Me Up" mission anomaly
  • UPDATE 4: SpaceX changes date and time of the Starlink launch to January 15th from Vandenberg SFB — while SpaceX Falcon 9 propelled the OneWeb Launch 16 mission to orbit from Canaveral –
  • Cook Islands to get Vodafone Cook Islands' 4G+ networks via SES’s O3b mPOWER  
  • UPDATE 1: SpaceX sends Northrop Grumman's USSF-67 two satellite mission to orbit via a Falcon Heavy — Northrop Grumman comments
  • Ground Control develops satellite IoT Gateway for larger data payloads in remote locations

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!