In a boost for the Australian space industry, the iLAuNCH Trailblazer has announced a further $1 million in funding to accelerate university research towards commercialisation. Part of the $180 million Trailblazer program, the iLAuNCH Accelerator’s Fast Track fund provides seed funding for proof-of-concept demonstrator technologies with long-term commercial prospects. Fast Track will provide funding pathways…
The University of South Australia (UniSA) today opened a brand-new Advanced Manufacturing facility and revealed industry investment in four space research projects under the iLAuNCH Trailblazer programme. The projects have attracted over $18 million in cash funding from space relented companies SMR Automotive Australia, VPG Innovation, Northrop Grumman and Spiral Blue. The SA Deputy Premier…
BHP sets new copper smelting records BHP has set new records for smelted copper production at its South Australian copper mines centred on the Olympic Dam mine, concentrator and smelter. The company achieved record copper mined and concentrate smelted at Olympic Dam in FY24 production was up by 39 per cent to 322kt in the…
Water scientists from University of South Australia (UniSA) and China’s Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology have found an improved way of removing organic pesticides from drinking water. According to a statement from UniSA on Thursday, researchers found that decreasing the size of powdered activated carbon — PAC, which is currently used to remove organic…
The federal and South Australian governments are to invest $60 million towards building an Australian Defence Technologies Academy to be developed at Lot Fourteen innovation precinct in Adelaide. To open in 2026, the academy will drive sovereign research and development of defence capabilities, according to a statement. The state-of-the-art facility will provide digital training, education…
Akula Tech which aims to design and build a constellation of satellites to detect natural disasters and conflicts and analyse the information in space has qualified to join the XPRIZE Wildfire competition’s Space-based Detection and Intelligence Track (Track A). XPRIZE is a four year international competition to develop and demonstrate fully-autonomous capabilities to detect and…
Six projects have received a total of nearly $900,000 in funding in the seventh round of the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) announced today. Aimed at supporting genuine collaboration across government, the university sector and industry, the CRF is a catalyst for defence-relevant research, development and innovation, according to Defence SA’s Acting Chief…
A generational loss of crafts and hands-on skills sees Australia’s ability to sustain a manufacturing base under threat, according to a University of South Australia researcher. University of South Australia Professor of Culture and Creative Industries and Director of the Creative People, Products and Places Research Centre, Susan Luckman, said that craft skills in the…
The Precision Engineering Centre, a $10 million research hub at University of South Australia dedicated to fabricating optics devices, will hold an official opening on Wednesday. According to a statement from UniSA, the centre at its Mawson Lakes campus is unique in the Southern Hemisphere, and “will transform a range of industries”, including medical technology,…
A group of researchers and companies are using the iLAuNCH Trailblazer programme to develop and space qualify a new optical manufacturing process and materials for space flight applications and demonstrate it in a camera in space. The University of South Australia (UniSA) with SMR Australia and VPG Innovation, part of Stärke-AMG, will utilise an emerging…