Australia is betting its economy on someone else’s satellites — Capital Brief
Printed
by
for personal, non-commercial use only.
For other rights, contact
licensing@capitalbrief.com.
Ideas
Space underpins Australia’s economy, security and infrastructure, yet we rely on assets we don’t own and can’t replace.
Dan Lloyd
Dan is the CEO of the Space Industry Association of Australia.
Australia should lead in space, but shrinking investment risks leaving us exposed as other nations move faster, argues Dan Lloyd
Gilmour Space.
The Artemis mission was a fantastic reminder to Australia of just how ambitious and capable we can be in space.
The Canberra Deep Space Network tracking station was one of only three global dishes tracking Orion, while the Australian National University successfully demonstrated a 100-fold improvement in space communications capacity with its revolutionary Quantum Optical Ground Station.
A recent landmark government report also quietly confirmed just how fundamental space is to life in Australia. The Independent Review of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act found that space technology underpins every critical infrastructure sector, including energy, banking, healthcare, defence, food supply and transport.
GPS alone powers the maps, logistics and atomic timing behind financial transactions. A GPS outage would be faster and more total than a fuel shortage, with no domestic reserve to fall back on.
Ideas is where we publish opinion and analysis from external contributors on the most important topics in the new economy.
Sign up to The Edition
Sign up to The Edition
Signed up to The Edition
Sign up to Standup
Sign up to Standup
Signed up to Standup
© 2026 Capital Brief Pty Ltd
Close
Your email address will be stored in accordance with our
privacy policy.