Australian-first satellite to be built at Lot Fourteen

A satellite to be built at Lot Fourteen will become the first to be put into space by an Australian state government under a $6.5 million, ground-breaking South Australian space mission announced in January 2021 by Premier Steven Marshall.

The state government is partnering with the South Australian space industry to send a locally manufactured small satellite into low Earth orbit – the first state government in Australia to embark on such a mission.

The information gathered by the satellite will boost South Australia’s space economy and provide valuable intelligence from across the state’s vast landscape which can be used for applications including emergency service and disaster management response, mining, and environmental purposes.

The SASAT1 Space Services Mission will strengthen the competitiveness of South Australian businesses in the small-satellite supply chain and pave the way for external investment and future growth in Australia and abroad.

The SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), based at Lot Fourteen, will lead the mission and application prototyping. Two other Lot Fourteen tenants will work on the mission – Inovor Technologies will design, build and test the satellite and Myriota will provide its Internet of Things (IoT) capability.

SASAT1 will start in early 2021, with the aim of delivering the satellite in 15 months for launch into orbit. The satellite will be available for a further three years to 2025 for data collection and operations under current funding.

Premier Marshall (far right) visits Myriota at Lot Fourteen as part of the SASAT1 announcement. Photo: SmartSat CRC, Sarah Darbyshire.