Artist’s impression of the Arrow satellite. Courtesy Airbus.
Airbus Defence and Space, together with the Government of South Australia, has today announced it plans to establish a spacecraft assembly and integration presence at Australian Space Park in Adelaide.
The company says the development will “significantly expand Australia’s sovereign satellite manufacturing capability, enabling the production of satellites up to 300 kg”.
“As the burgeoning hub for Australia’s space manufacturing industry, South Australia is the natural choice for Airbus to establish a dedicated satellite assembly and integration presence,” said Richard Franklin, Managing Director of Airbus Defence and Space UK.
“Airbus’ involvement in the Australian Space Park will open a pipeline of opportunities for local manufacturers,” added South Australia Premier, Peter Malinauskas.
“The space industry offers huge potential for South Australia, as we attract more and more companies to our state we will continue to be at the forefront of supporting sovereign space capability which will enable the development, integration, assembly and testing of space hardware.”
South Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment, Nick Champion, said that having Airbus “assembling satellites of this size will be a huge step in terms of scale and sophistication of satellites being assembled in Australia”.
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