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The space industry has been flexing its muscles in South Australia for the past three years and the Federal Government has been paying attention.
Today, the Australian Space Agency announced that it will base its headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia.
The new home for Australia's space industry will be built in the city-based innovation precinct of Lot Fourteen where the old Royal Adelaide Hospital once stood.
The Space Agency, established last year with $41 million in funding, hopes to triple the Australian space industry by 2030, lifting its revenue to $12 billion and creating 20,000 jobs.
Speaking at the launch of the Australian Space Agency in Adelaide this morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons says the decision was ideal considering Adelaide's history and current dominance in the sector.
"Australia's space industry is set to hit new heights," says Morrison.
"This agency is going to open doors for local businesses and Australian access to the US$345 billion global space industry."
The selection of Adelaide as the new home for Australia's space agency is a major boon for local companies who are already performing well internationally.
Fleet Space Technologies and Myriota, both South Australian space startups, have already launched satellites and a payload that can help farmers and other industries use space to monitor sensor networks to improve the productivity of their business.
Adelaide-born NASA astronaut Andy Thomas, who backed the campaign to get the agency to Adelaide, says Adelaide has a proud history of space industry.
"South Australia wrote much of its history by bringing developments in science, engineering and social progress to the national stage," says Thomas.
"This exciting decision continues that legacy so that Australia can boldly go to that final frontier and build new industries, create new economic and employment opportunities, and excited a new generation of homegrown entrepreneurs and innovators."
Head of the Australian Space Agency Dr Megan Clarke will set up an interim office in Adelaide immediately and should have the Agency in full swing in Adelaide by mid-2019.
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