Southern Launch has become the first company to be granted a rocket launch facility licence by the federal government, opening the way for commercial sub-orbital launches from its Koonibba Test Range in regional South Australia (pictured). Industry minister Karen Andrews said today ensuring a regulatory framework that balances safety and entrepreneurism is crucial to growing…
A Monash University team has won a prize for innovation at the global WorldStar Student Awards, developing a fibreboard packaging product using 30 per cent peanut husks.
Adelaide-based satellite manufacturer Fleet Space Technologies have successfully launched their fifth commercial nanosatellite and are looking to expand production in Australia.
Energy Renaissance, which plans to soon become Australia’s first maker of lithium ion batteries, is developing a defence-grade battery management system in collaboration with the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre and the CSIRO. The $1.46 million project will develop the “nerve centre” of a battery, collecting and analysing information on a system’s health and usage…
The disused open cut Kidston gold mine in Queensland is to be repurposed into a massive pumped hydro electricity storage system. The Australian Reneawable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $47 million in funding for Genex to construct a pumped hydro system to store energy from a 50 MW solar farm that is already operating and…
The NSW Government’s proposed Western Sydney Startup Hub has been given planning approval, paving the way for heritage buildings in North Parramatta to be “sensitively restored” for entrepreneurs.
Analysis by Peter Roberts It seems the federal government push to involve our typical SME manufacturers with major defence projects is paying off in all sorts of unexpected ways. Australia has been quietly progressing research into flight at hypersonic speeds – faster than five times the speed of sound – for decades. It is the…
Automation system builder Andrew Donald Design Engineering have shipped the second of three specialist inspection machines (pictured) to a US manufacturer building systems to accelerate the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. Part of the US Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program, the systems are designed to overcome significant constraints in the supply and filling of vials…
Quickstep unsuccessful in flare housing manufacturing bid Composites manufacturer Quickstep Holdings has been informed its bid to manufacture MJU-6B flare housing for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter for Chemring in the next two financial years has been unsuccessful. Quickstep said the grounds for Chemring’s decision are contestable, with the company initiating a formal…
