Category: News

Adelaide, AUSTRALIA — HEX20, has embarked on a strategic collaboration with India’s Skyroot Aerospace and Japan’s ispace, inc. to stimulate demand for affordable lunar satellite missions. The initiative aims to leverage the combined technical prowess and regional networks of the three pioneering companies.

Lloyd Lopez, CEO of HEX20, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We have committed to joint marketing efforts across the Indo-Pacific region, expediting the realization of lunar satellite missions in the area.” The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing this partnership was inked during the 74th International Astronautical Conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“This marks an exciting juncture, and we aspire to adapt our platforms for forthcoming lunar missions. It exemplifies how partners with complementary technologies and expertise can collaborate to deliver value to our clients,” Mr. Lopez noted. He emphasized that HEX20’s seasoned team, internally developed innovative technologies, and a reliable supply chain are the core elements enabling them to provide cost-effective solutions to the space market.

Furthermore, Mr. Lopez underscored HEX20’s unique position to foster successful partnerships with local and international enterprises, thereby enhancing Australia’s space capabilities.

About HEX20 Pty Ltd (https://hex20.com.au/)
HEX20 is an innovative Australian SmallSat company providing cost-effective platforms, customized hardware, and advanced sensor technologies for the CubeSat and SmallSat markets. HEX20’s products are derived from flight heritage programs and have a proven assurance for successful mission completion. HEX20 aims to deliver solutions to the LEO and Cis-Lunar market, focusing on making these qualified hardware platforms more intelligent, cost-effective, reliable, and easily accessible for commercial, defense, and academic applications.

HEX20 offers a versatile range of options, from compact 3U platforms for academic missions to robust 27U designs for mission-critical projects, with customizable payload space, computing power, avionics, pointing accuracy, and communication solutions to meet specific mission needs.

About ispace, inc. (https://ispace-inc.com/)
ispace, a global lunar resource development company with the vision, “Expand our Planet. Expand our Future.”, specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers. ispace aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon.

ispace has offices in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States with more than 250 employees worldwide. ispace technologies U.S., inc. is part of a team led by Draper, which was awarded a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program contract to land on the far side of the Moon. Both ispace, and ispace EUROPE S.A. (ispace EU) were awarded contracts to collect and transfer ownership of lunar regolith to NASA, and ispace EU was selected by ESA to be part of the Science Team for PROSPECT, a program which seeks to extract water on the Moon.

Established in 2010, ispace operated “HAKUTO” which was one of five finalist teams in the Google Lunar XPRIZE race. ispace’s first mission, part of its HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, launched on Dec. 11, 2022, from the United States on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and completed 8 of 10 mission milestones. Subsequent missions are in development with launches expected in 2024 and 2026. ispace has also launched a lunar data business concept to support new customers as a gateway to conduct business on the Moon.

About Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited (https://skyroot.in/)
Skyroot Aerospace, headquartered in Hyderabad, India, stands as the country’s leading private space launch vehicle company. Distinguished by its groundbreaking achievements, Skyroot has accomplished the simultaneous development and validation of solid, liquid, and cryogenic propulsion technologies. Notably, they have harnessed advanced materials and manufacturing techniques, such as carbon fibre structures, miniaturized avionics, and 3D printed engines, With the Vikram series achieving a momentous milestone, Skyroot made history in 2022 by launching India’s first private launch vehicle, solidifying its pioneering role in India’s private space ecosystem. As they gear up for the orbital launch of the Vikram series later this year, Skyroot remains steadfast in its mission to “Open Space for All.”

Australia and India signed six new industry-to-industry memorandums for collaboration, with the aim to boost commercial space ties, at Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX).

The Australian delegation was led by the head of the Australian Space Agency (ASA), Enrico Palermo.

“Our commercial space sectors are at similar levels of development, making us perfect partners. We also recognise the significance of India’s national space programme and are glad to be supporting the inspirational Gaganyaan human space flight mission,” Palermo said.

Space Machines Company (SMC), an Australian start-up developing space transportation capability to insert small satellites into desired LEO, GEO, and Cislunar orbits, will collaborate with Bengaluru-based aerospace and defence manufacturer Ananth Technologies on product integration, testing, technology development and joint-space missions.

Similarly, Australian start-up HEX20 will work with Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace to provide launch services, spacecraft avionics and components to Australian space initiatives. This company builds satellite platforms, mission services, and their subsystems and closely works with government-funded defence systems, commercial projects, and academic space missions. They are associated with lunar and Mars missions.

HEX20 is one of the nine global space start-ups to join Australia’s first space dedicated incubator programme under the University of South Australia’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC) in the Venture Catalyst Space programme, supported by the South Australian Government’s Space Innovation Fund.

Another Australia-based company, QL Space, will partner with Skyroot Aerospace to further develop launch facilities in Australia and support joint mineral exploration missions in space. QL Space is based in Perth, known as Australia’s resources, mining and mining technology capital. QL Space aims to develop disruptive new space technology that transforms the sector through remote sensing satellites, sensors, data, and deep learning (AI+ML). They aim to bring transformative changes that benefit defence, mining, agriculture, the environment, and future space missions. This company has apparently a long-term vision to advance space mining, exploration of Near-Earth Objects (NEO), hyperspectral image processing and advanced sensors hosted on satellite.

QL Space will also partner with Chennai-based GalaxEye to develop a hybrid optic and radar payload to reduce the adverse environmental impact of critical mineral exploration in Australia and beyond. QL Space and Bengaluru-based SatSure will also work together to build satellite and AI-based solutions to support the agriculture, mining and defence industries, and apply this technology to the outer space environment.

Australia’s SABRN Health and Altdata and India’s DCube will work together on the development and integration of hardware, sensor technology and software to provide health support to astronauts. SABRN Health is looking at the development of a payload version of an emergency-surgical room, that can be used for faster extraction of injured personnel from austere environments (including the lunar surface).

Altdata uses data for building intelligent systems and aims to solve the inadequacy of real-world data with synthetic data. Its team specialises in technology that can generate accurate human error less metadata critical for training.

Hex20 is delighted to announce the build of a 3U spacecraft for National Central University(NCU) Taiwan with delivery scheduled in 2023 for an IOT mission.

Mr. Lloyd Lopez, CEO of Hex20 said “the Hex20 NX-3I 3U CubeSat bus leverages the spacecraft architecture developed under the ‘INSPIRE’ consortium, of which NCU was a founding member. The NX-3I is one of the most cutting-edge 3U platforms with space heritage and competitively priced in the international market”. The spacecraft will be integrated at Hex20 facilities in Adelaide and controlled from NCU facilities in Taiwan.

Mr. Lopez added “HEX20 provides turnkey satellite mission solutions designed and delivered according to customer requirements. The modular and scalable buses can support missions for commercial and defence applications. Hex20 currently working with its partners including University of Adelaide to build up sovereign capability within South Australia”.

Prof Loren Chang from NCU stated “The Taiwan government has identified space technology as a key sector for national development. Low Earth Orbit satellites for communications and IoT being identified as national priorities”.

“The spacecraft will carry an NCU developed Automatic identification system (AIS) payload that can be used for maritime tracking, as well as data collection from scientific buoys developed and deployed by NCU for meteorological and oceanographic observations,” said Prof Chang.

NCU has a long history stemming from Taiwan’s first forays into space science following participation in the International Geophysical Year in 1957. NCU was the first university in Taiwan to establish a Department of Space Science and Engineering. The University has been working to develop a small satellite program for educational, scientific, as well as technology test platforms.

About UniSA’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC)

Established in 2015, the Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) is a strategic partnership between the University of South Australia and the South Australian Government and to support technology-based incubation and business growth in South Australia.

Enabled by world-class tech resources and tools, the Centre runs the Venture Catalyst program which supports enterprises from idea generation to growth and expansion stages.

The University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) is today announcing nine startups that have been merit selected for a place in the Venture Catalyst Space program, supported by the South Australian Government’s Space Innovation Fund.

A leader in space innovation and business acceleration, the program is the first of its kind in Australia.

Startups will receive the individual support they need at the time they need it through a tailored program with all equity and intellectual property remaining with the company.

Premier Steven Marshall said the incubation program is helping ensure that leading space startups are supported in early stage operations, which is crucial to creating a space ecosystem conducive to sustained growth.

“As a state and as a nation, we must continue to support the pipeline of startup and scale-up space-related companies to build on and sustain our space economy,” he said.

“The support provided through the Venture Catalyst Space program will help position these nine startups with the capability and capacity for long-term success in the national—and global—space arena.

“It is the startups of today that will become our future leading businesses and with that said, I’m thrilled to see such strong representation from South Australian-based companies.

“South Australia currently has 31 per cent of Australia’s space industry, and my Government is committed to seeing this number grow as we push forward as the nation’s centre for space industries.”

Each company will receive funding, access to specialist business acceleration workshops, one-on-one mentoring, a modern co-working space, and technical resources and tools.

They will work with global industry experts, including Kirk Drage, (co-founder of LeapSheep), and key representatives from the space industry including former NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander, Pam Melroy.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says that, as the home of the Australian Space Agency and a thriving start-up community, South Australia is at the forefront of the Australian space industry.

“At UniSA, we’re giving startups and entrepreneurs with great ideas the tools and support they need to become sustainable businesses,” Prof Lloyd says.

“As Australia’s University of Enterprise, our culture of innovation is anchored around global and national links – and we are excited that our Venture Catalyst Space program is growing and supporting the State’s economy.”

Associate Director of the Innovation & Collaboration Centre, Jasmine Vreugdenburg says the program
continues to attract space startups from around the world who are interested to join the home of
space in Australia.

“By bringing new technologies and high-growth startups through our program, we are contributing to the growing space industry in Australia and putting Adelaide on the map as the centre of gravity for space activity,” she says.

“The applicants want to come here because they have seen the success of other companies that have been through the program like Lux, Astrogate Labs and Ping, which are a testament to the world class quality of the program which can only be achieved with the support of our space ecosystem partners.

The companies taking part in the program are South Australia’s Firefly Biotech, Locus Rose, Hex20, Moonlode and SPACELIS, joined by India’s 114ai & Digantara, Astroport Space Technologies (USA) and satsearch (Netherlands).

Founder of Texas based startup Astroport Space Technologies, Sam Ximenes says the company is looking to establish a branch office or company division in South Australia to develop its technology and find a strategic partner or company with an interest in co-developing for the Australian market and space exploration.

Founder and CEO of Indian company Digntara, Anirudh Sharma, says his company is specifically interested in the “rich networking opportunities and investor portfolios in the Venture Catalyst program.”

Find out more about the program at https://icc.unisa.edu.au/programs/venture-catalyst-space/.

Media Contact: Georgia Minarelli email: georgia.minarelli@unisa.edu.au mobile: 0413 314 726

The Venture Catalyst Space program is part of the University of South Australia’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC), the first of its kind in Australia and a leader in space innovation and business acceleration.

ICC Associate Director Jasmine Vreugdenburg said the program continues to attract space startups from around the world wanting to be part of the home of space in Australia.

“By bringing new technologies and high-growth startups through our program, we are contributing to the growing space industry in Australia and putting Adelaide on the map as the centre of gravity for space activity,” Vreugdenburg said.

“The applicants want to come here because they have seen the success of other companies that have been through the program like Lux, Astrogate Labs and Ping which are a testament to the world-class quality of the program which can only be achieved with the support of our space ecosystem partners.”

Dr Giles Kirby the founder and chief scientist of South Australia company Firefly Biotech, one of the nine startups chosen, said the program will help speed up the pace of development.

“I think having that centralised spot in the city along with the training and support, it really helps build a community,” said Kirby.

“We are moving so much faster than we would have been able to by ourselves and it feels like they are really investing in the future of Australia.

“It’s really nice to see some market growth in a market that has got a lot of potential in the next 10 years.”

Firefly Biotech develops tools and processes to make biological research in space accessible with tools such as microgravity simulators.

“We are currently getting our tools into the hands of the people using them, developing some alpha models to get them out there, get them refined, get them used,” Kirby said.

The other companies taking part in the program are South Australia’s Locus Rose, Hex20, Moonlode and SPACELIS, joined by India’s 114ai and Digantara, Astroport Space Technologies from the USA and satsearch from the Netherlands.

Each of the startups will receive $10,000 funding and support from the South Australian Government, with the international companies receiving the funds once they commit to relocating to South Australia.

Now in its fourth year, the program forms part of the South Australian Government’s $4 million Space Innovation Fund, providing each company with funding, access to specialist business acceleration workshops, one-on-one mentoring, a modern co-working space, and technical resources and tools.

The startups will also receive advice and guidance from global industry experts such as Kirk Drage and his consulting company LeapSheep and key representatives from the space industry including former NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander Pam Melroy.

South Australian company Ping Services was part of the first cohort of the Venture Catalyst Space program in 2018 and created the Ping Monitor which measures the health of a wind turbine based on its acoustic signature and sound generated by the turbine blades as they rotate.

Ping has since liaised with most of the major wind turbine operators in Australia, Europe and the United States.

The Venture Catalyst Space program adds to South Australia’s growing space ecosystem, which is home to the Australian Space Agency, and helps cement South Australia’s position as the epicentre of the Australian space industry.

Adelaide will host the 11th Australian Space Forum on Wednesday (31st March) at the Adelaide Convention Centre, which will be the largest industry exhibition in the event’s history with 65 exhibitors.