Optus has partnered with a consortium of companies including the Department of Defence to build, launch and operate a sovereign Australian Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite as a step towards advancing Australia’s capabilities in space.
The consortium is made up of the iLAuNCH Trailblazer, HEO, Inovor Technologies and the Australian Department of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG).
A launch date has been tentatively set for early 2028 and will include two pieces of equipment developed under the Australian Government’s iLAuNCH Trailblazer Universities Program, sponsored by the Federal Department of Education.
“Connectivity continues to play a critical role in the Australian economy, whether that be through supporting small businesses in regional and remote towns or large enterprises with employees spread across the country, we must continue to explore new ways of delivering services that businesses rely on,” says Nick Leake, Head of Satellite and Space Systems at Optus.
“By collaborating with Australia’s industry leaders across the public, private and academic sectors, we are able to further advance the use of technology to solve problems, fuel growth and define what’s next for the telco industry while supporting Australian businesses and Australian workers.”
The two pieces of hosted equipment, created in partnership with HEO and the University of Southern Queensland, are the 20cm Adler Imager Space Telescope and a compact communication terminal that uses laser light to send and receive data developed by the University of South Australia.
These pieces of equipment will not be used to expand Optus’s cellular reach in Australia – that is being looked after by Starlink’s low earth orbit satellites to provide coverage for rural and remote areas beyond the existing cellular network in the near future.
