Australia unveils plan to become space manufacturing hub by 2030

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) has released a roadmap to grow the country's space manufacturing industry.

The plan, which was published on Friday, includes two, five and 10-year goals for the sector as the government seeks to modernize Australian manufacturing in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

According to the roadmap, by 2030 Australian companies will be "able to manufacture and then launch small satellites to space, with an initial focus on Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit, Geostationary Equatorial Orbit and beyond, using launches from Australian territory."

Australia will be "recognized for launch infrastructure and capabilities leveraging its unique location in the southern hemisphere," it said.

The ASA, which is based in South Australia (SA), was established in 2018 with a goal of growing the value of the country's space industry from 3.9 billion Australian dollars (3.02 billion U.S. dollars) to 12 billion Australian dollars (9.3 billion U.S. dollars) and creating 20,000 new jobs by 2030.

"This road map sets out our vision for manufacturing investment in the sector, which will complement the excellent work already being done by the Australian Space Agency to grow the economy and create jobs," Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said in a statement on Friday.

"From products launched into space like nano and small satellites, through to space components like sensors and communication arrays, Australia has a number of unique opportunities across space manufacturing," she said.

Two rocket launch sites have been built in South Australia, from which rockets were launched in 2020.