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New station will help unlock space data

Dr Francis Bennet from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Photo: Lannon Harley, ANU.

A NEW specialist facility at ANU will soon give Australia and the world access to massive amounts of locked away data captured in space at incredibly fast speeds. 

The Quantum Optical Ground Station, a first for Australia, will help researchers and industry better access unused data about the universe as well as enable better monitoring of the planet, according to ANU.

The project, which also includes a new telescope, is worth up to $2.4 million in total, $800,000 of which is ACT government funding.

Project lead Dr Francis Bennet from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics says the new station will develop technologies that enable license free and secure high-bandwidth data transmission to and from space.

“Most of the data we capture from satellites and instruments in space never finds its way back down to Earth,” Dr Bennet says.

“The onboard processing in these machines means we are often left in the dark about our own planet, as well as the mysteries of the universe.

“For example, the Keppler space telescope launched by NASA to discover Earth-sized planets was only able to transmit one per cent of the data it captured back home. That means we missed out on 99 per cent of what was found.

“This new ground station will change all that. It will give us the ability to tap into the massive volumes of data we gather each day in space, as well as improve monitoring of our Earth’s water, weather and other vital signs.”

The new station will also develop technology that could one day replace the undersea fibre optical cables global telecommunications is currently reliant on, as well as assist satellites from Asia in their space and Earth monitoring and telecommunications work.

The ANU station will be the first in an Australian network of optical ground stations, with partners in WA, SA, ACT and New Zealand.

ANU Provost Prof Mike Calford says Canberra is the perfect place for the new station.

“This new station will help position Australia and the ACT as one of the world’s leading centres in the burgeoning field of quantum space communications, and boost the nation’s space efforts,” he says.

“It will bring in experts and industry leaders from all over the world to work together, as well as power the local economy and create local jobs. It will be the first hub in a network spanning our vast continent and NZ.

“And it will help launch Australia’s space communications capacity, allowing us to tap into multi-billion space communications markets across the globe.”

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