More than 34,000 pieces of debris are hurtling around Earth at speeds 10 times faster than a bullet, threatening the satellites we rely on for GPS, weather forecasting and internet. Even a paint fleck can punch a hole through a spacecraft.
On the ground, Australia faces equally complex defence challenges - detecting threats in conditions where traditional sensors fail.
The University of Tasmania has secured $860,000 in federal funding to address both challenges, with two cutting-edge research projects sharing the investment under the Australian Government's Australia's Economic Accelerator program.
The funding was announced this month as part of a $72.5 million national investment in early-stage research across the country.
Physicist Dr Guifré Molera Calvés from the School of Natural Sciences has been awarded $459,900 to develop a Multi Modal Space Object Rapid Cataloguing System. Think of it as air traffic control for space.
"Right now, tracking what's in orbit is like trying to monitor a highway using cameras that only work sometimes, in some weather conditions," Dr Molera Calvés explains.
"We're building a system that combines data from optical telescopes, active radio signals from the satellites and deep space radars into one unified picture. That means we can spot objects faster, identify them more accurately, and predict potential collisions before they happen."
The stakes are high. When satellites collide, they create thousands of new fragments, each one a potential bullet. In 2009, a defunct Russian satellite smashed into an American communications satellite, creating over 2,000 pieces of trackable debris that will orbit Earth for decades.
But the system addresses an even more immediate challenge: the chaos of launch day.
"The most critical moment is the deployment phase, when the spacecraft separates from the launch vehicle," Dr Molera Calvés says.
"Dozens of satellites can be released simultaneously. If you lose communication or can't identify which is which, you can jeopardize the entire mission. This project ensures reliable identification and communication from the very start."
Dr Molera Calvés' system aims to give scientists and satellite operators the information they need to dodge disaster and manage the increasingly crowded environment above us.
The project is being developed in collaboration with Prof. Simon Ellingsen at the University of Western Australia and HENSOLDT Australia.
The timing is critical. Thousands of new satellites are being launched every year by countries and companies around the world. Space is no longer the exclusive domain of superpowers.
"Australia needs the ability to know what's happening above us," Dr Molera Calvés says. "This system will give us that capability."
Separately, Dr Brian Salmon from the School of Engineering has secured $403,421 to tackle one of modern warfare's biggest challenges: detecting drones before they strike.
Smart drones are cheap, fast (reaching speeds of 250 km/h), and increasingly autonomous. Traditional detection systems struggle to spot them in fog, darkness, or complex environments.
Dr Salmon's solution? Listen for them.
His team is developing an acoustic detection system that picks up the sound drones make as they fly. Unlike radar or other active sensors that broadcast signals enemies can detect, this system is completely passive, listening for the drone's own noise.
"The beauty of acoustic detection is that silent drones aren't physically possible, especially when carrying a payload at high speed," Dr Salmon explains.
"They have to make noise to fly. We're building technology that can detect and identify them in situations where conventional sensors fail."
It's also cost-effective, a critical factor when defending against swarms of increasingly cheap drones.
Dr Salmon's project will collaborate with industry partner Visionary Machines, a sovereign Australian SME known for its high-accuracy, passive 3D optical detection technology.
"We are excited to be working with the University of Tasmania, fusing next-generation acoustic technology with our unique 3D optical sensing," said Dr Samson Lee, Chief Technology Officer at Visionary Machines.
"This puts sovereign Australian counter drone technology at the forefront globally with faster detection and richer situational awareness."
The project is part of Australia's push to develop its own cutting-edge technology rather than relying entirely on overseas suppliers. Building this kind of sovereign capability means Australian defence and security agencies have tools designed specifically for local conditions and needs.
It didn't come easy. More than 838 universities and research teams across Australia competed for these grants, with only 174 projects making the cut. It's a sign of the University's growing reputation in applied physics and engineering, particularly in areas Australia has identified as critical to its future: space capability and defence technology.
The Australia's Economic Accelerator program exists specifically to take promising research out of the lab and turn it into real-world solutions. For these two Tasmanian teams, that transformation starts now.
