Spacecraft business Space Machines Company (SMC) intends to begin assembly at the NSW government’s Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF) in Western Sydney later this year. According to a statement from the government on Saturday, SMC will set up at the AMRF at Bradfield aiming “to develop hyperscale production capability” for its satellites. The AMRF is…
A project supported by the iLAuNCH Trailblazer program has yielded a bimetal rocket thruster printed using multi-material additive manufacturing, which is claimed to be an Australian first. According to a statement from iLAuNCH – part of the federal Trailblazer Universities Program – on Thursday, the thruster was developed by Space Machines Company (SMC) and made…
Last month Space Machines Company, which plans to one day offer “roadside assistance in space”, completed what it says is an important milestone. The company successfully completed its 3D printed Scintilla engine, which passed a critical design review as well as more than 1,200 seconds of testing time at a private farm somewhere in Queensland.…
Off-earth logistics business Space Machines Company (SMC) has successfully completed its proprietary Scintilla propulsion engine, which has completed an extended burn duration of 65 seconds, more than 1,200 seconds of total testing time and 40 restarts so far. The engine was developed completely in-house and is part of SMC’s Viper satellite vehicle, “designed for rapid…
Space Machines Company and the University of Technology Sydney announced on Tuesday the creation of Australia’s largest industrial-scale spacecraft manufacturing facility at UTS Tech Lab in Sydney. The Optimus Factory (OF-01) will feature an additional 800-square-metre spacecraft production space and house Australia’s largest satellite Assembly, Integration and Test cleanroom. The facility represents a co-investment from…
HEO shares progress on Holmes Mk2 space camera Space business HEO has shared that work is well underway for its first Holmes Mk2 flight model camera, with the team undertaking “the finishing touches and prepar[ing] for the final phase of testing. In an update on Linkedin, HEO said its smallest non-Earth imaging camera, “provides a…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Liquid catalyst breakthrough speeds up chemical manufacturing A major breakthrough in liquid catalysis is transforming how essential products are made, making the chemical manufacturing process faster, safer and more sustainable than ever before. Researchers from Monash University, the University of Sydney,…
HEO – which launched an Australian-made, world-first commercial camera dedicated to non-Earth imaging (NEI) in 2023 – has announced that it will support the Space Machines Company-led Space-MAITRI mission, scheduled for launch in late-2026. HEO said in a statement on Thursday that it will provide a second generation of its NEI camera, billed the Holmes…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) BluGlass achieves gallium nitride laser world record result ASX-listed compound semiconductor developer and maker BluGlass has announced what it says is a world record for power produced by a single-mode gallium nitride (GaN) laser. In a statement on Tuesday, the company…
A newly-announced project led by Space Machines Company (SMC), which is developing vehicles for in-space servicing of satellites, is aiming to develop an orbital robotics testbed. According to a statement from SMC on Friday, the project aims “to develop a ground-based proximity operations robotic test bed for space-borne perception and intelligence targeted at [on-orbit servicing],…