Australian Space Agency

Australian Space Agency The heart of space in Australia

What space sector news made the headlines in August?From the Moon to Mars, rockets, satellites, new space partnerships a...
07/09/2026

What space sector news made the headlines in August?

From the Moon to Mars, rockets, satellites, new space partnerships and some big discoveries - August was another busy month for Australia’s space sector.

Catch up on the latest in our August wrap-up at http://spklr.io/6180Er0Wu

📷 UNSW

Robert H. Goddard is an American physicist, inventor and engineer credited as the father of modern rocketry. 🚀In 1916, G...
06/09/2026

Robert H. Goddard is an American physicist, inventor and engineer credited as the father of modern rocketry. 🚀

In 1916, Goddard devised an experimental vacuum devise that demonstrated that rockets worked better in the vacuum of space than in the air.

When the Smithsonian Institution published his research in a paper in 1919, it included the suggestion that it would be possible for a rocket to reach the Moon. 🌙

Unfortunately, this attracted ridicule from the newspapers of the day, and Goddard then avoided publicity for his work. This meant that its full significance was not recognised until many years after his death.

He would likely be astonished and deeply proud to see rockets now travelling to the Moon, the realisation of his dreams from over a century ago. 🚀🌕

Read more about Goddard's work here http://spklr.io/6182Ertbp

📷 NASA

While 54% of Australians watched the Artemis-II launch, its predecessor Artemis-I went more quietly about its important ...
05/09/2026

While 54% of Australians watched the Artemis-II launch, its predecessor Artemis-I went more quietly about its important mission.

Artemis-I was an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft in preparation for the Artemis-II crewed mission. Across 25 and a half days in November-December 2022, Orion’s systems and endurance were tested to ensure it was ready for a human crew.

On flight day 13, Orion reached its maximum distance from Earth at 432,210 kilometres, breaking the distance record for any spacecraft designed to carry people. A camera mounted on one of the solar panels took this historic view of the Moon and Earth.

In the lead up to National Observe the Moon Night, explore our interactive photo gallery to see how nearly 70 years of Moon photography has changed the way we see our nearest celestial neighbour http://spklr.io/6182ErtbK

📷 NASA / ✏️YouGov Survey

🚀 Teachers - bring space into your science classroom! 🌏🌙Join one of our 45 minute sessions, where our team will show you...
03/09/2026

🚀 Teachers - bring space into your science classroom! 🌏🌙

Join one of our 45 minute sessions, where our team will show you how to weave current Australian space projects into your science curriculum. From the ethics of managing space debris and satellites, to advancing agriculture on the Moon, we’ll demonstrate how space concepts can be used as a foundation for exploring global issues and how space can be a relevant, narrative-rich backdrop for learning experiences!

Science as a Human Endeavour lies at the heart of our programming, with links to Inquiry and Understanding streams throughout. For schools delivering an integrated STEM approach, explore our cross-disciplinary links to Mathematics and Design Technologies!

A statement of attendance will be provided on completion of the session.

👉 Book a free session now: http://spklr.io/6181ErYMc

45 mins

Projects in Motion ▶️ Lunaria OneLater this year, Melbourne-based consortium Lunaria One is set to launch its ALEPH-1 pl...
02/09/2026

Projects in Motion ▶️ Lunaria One

Later this year, Melbourne-based consortium Lunaria One is set to launch its ALEPH-1 plant growth experiment to the Moon with Intuitive Machines. A pressurised growth capsule with sensors and cameras will investigate the conditions needed to grow plants in low gravity on the Moon – an important question for both biology research and the prospect of sustained human activity on the lunar surface.

The consortium is finalising its selection of plant species to take to the Moon, and the first to be announced is the rhizocarpon geographicum species of lichen. Commonly called ‘map lichen’ for the mottled, map-like patches it forms on rock surfaces, it’s a slow-growing and long-lived species that naturally produces protective pigments and compounds, which are believed to help it withstand radiation and desiccation.

The species has shown promising signs of resistance in previous ESA astrobiology missions and in Lunaria One’s own experimentation on Earth. ANSTO assisted Lunaria One with radiation testing of samples, which were then studied by a biology team at RMIT University, and demonstrated viability after receiving the equivalent of 5 years’ radiation exposure. The map lichen tested and selected to travel to the Moon with ALEPH-1 were collected on Mt Coree, on the NSW-ACT border, under permit in partnership with CSIRO.

ALEPH-1 is funded by our Moon to Mars Demonstrator Mission program, which provides a pathway for Australian enterprises to develop and launch products into space – creating new capabilities and building space heritage. Discover more Australian space industry stories at http://spklr.io/6182Er5W8

📷 The samples integrated inside the bio-module and the sample close-up.

Nancy - Australia heard you. 🚀NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has begun its journey to the second Sun–Earth Lag...
01/09/2026

Nancy - Australia heard you. 🚀

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has begun its journey to the second Sun–Earth Lagrange point (L2), around 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. After launch, its first connection with the Deep Space Network was through the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia.

About 70 minutes after launch, Canberra picked up communications with Roman, before the spacecraft later handed over to stations in Spain and the United States.

It’s another powerful reminder that from the ground, Australian facilities help keep some of the world’s most ambitious spacecraft connected as they explore the universe. Find out about them here http://spklr.io/6188Erbdk

📷 NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

🚀 What if your idea could help grow food in space?The Space Harvest Ideathon is a free program giving students from prim...
31/08/2026

🚀 What if your idea could help grow food in space?

The Space Harvest Ideathon is a free program giving students from primary school through to PhD level the chance to explore the future of space agriculture by growing plants in Moon and Mars soil simulants, designing space experiments, and proposing seeds that could one day be grown aboard the International Space Station.

🌱 Submit your ideas in two exciting tracks: • What to Grow – plant species that could support nutrition and wellbeing on future space missions • How to Grow – innovative cultivation methods for the ISS, Moon, Mars, or spacecraft.

Some key dates:
Submissions for “What to Grow” due 1st October 2026
Submissions for “How to Grow” due 1st August 2027

Outstanding entries from across the Asia-Pacific may be recommended to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with top proposals considered for future ISS implementation.

🔗 Find out more and register at: http://spklr.io/6182ErXtM

📷 JAXA

A new eye on the universe is about to open! 👀The countdown is on for the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telesc...
29/08/2026

A new eye on the universe is about to open! 👀

The countdown is on for the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope tonight Australian time. 🔭✨

Launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, Roman will head to an orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point, about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, where it will begin an ambitious mission to explore some of the biggest mysteries in the universe.

With a field of view at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman will create vast cosmic panoramas, helping scientists investigate dark matter and dark energy, map how galaxies evolve and discover thousands of new exoplanets.

Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman, often called the “mother of Hubble”, this next-generation observatory could transform our understanding of the cosmos.

The next great chapter in space astronomy is almost ready to begin.

You can watch the launch here http://spklr.io/6183ErTF3

📷 GSFC/SVS

29/08/2026

☀️ The Sun has never looked quite like this.

Scientists have captured the highest-resolution images of the Sun’s surface ever taken, showing a section about 5,000 by 3,500 kms in size, an area that on Earth, would fit Australia.

Captured by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the images reveal swirling plasma flows and magnetic activity in extraordinary detail.

Why does that matter to us?

The Sun’s magnetic activity drives space weather, which can affect satellites, communications, navigation systems and power infrastructure here on Earth. The breakthrough could help scientists better understand solar flares, space weather, and why the Sun's outer atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than its surface.

For lots of space adventures in September checkout the Australian Space Discovery Centre's latest newsletter at http://spklr.io/6187ErOKD

📹 NSF/NSO/AURA/MPS/HAO

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