Madeleine Ogilvie,Minister for Science and Technology
Tasmania's leadership role in the commercial and scientific space sector has been strengthened with the unveiling of the Equatorial Mount for the University of Tasmania's Greenhill Observatory today.
Donated by HENSOLDT Australia - a globally recognised technology solutions company - the mount allows for more flexible and faster movement of the telescope, significantly supporting and improving the space-tracking abilities of the system.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to positioning our State as a significant contributor to the nation's ambitions in space research and development, and HENSOLDT's investment demonstrates its ongoing commitment to the Team Tasmania partnership between the Government, HENSOLDT Australia and the University of Tasmania (UTAS).
It is another example of the growing strength of Tasmania's space industry and builds on our $900,000 investment into initiatives aimed at strengthening Tasmania's space research infrastructure, and accelerating the growth of a commercial space industry.
The new mount will strengthen UTAS's continent wide array of telescopes that represent an infrastructure investment of more than $100 million.
This infrastructure enables unique sovereign capability in Space Domain Awareness, Space Situational Awareness, mission communications, spacecraft tracking and geodesy. These capabilities are all delivered from the University's mission control centre in Hobart.
No other Australian organisation and no other nation in the Southern Hemisphere has this unique network of astronomical infrastructure, and it is this unique infrastructure and capabilities, combined with Tasmania's geographic advantages that attracted HENSOLDT to Tasmania.
Space is an industry that sparks the imagination and captures the achievement of humanity like no other. The Tasmanian Government recognises the power of this in inspiring young Tasmanians to engage in learning and seek exciting careers in the sciences.
