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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Australia's long [soylentnews.org] talked [soylentnews.org] about [soylentnews.org] space agency may come into existence soon [theguardian.com]:

The government will set aside $50m to fund Australia's first dedicated space agency, according to senior insiders. The ABC on Thursday reported that funding for the space agency was guaranteed [abc.net.au] in the budget on Tuesday. It is understood $50m will be given to the fledgling agency as "seed funding", with the intention that the majority of the agency's funding will come from the private sector.

Megan Clark, a former head of the [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [wikipedia.org] (CSIRO)] who this year completed a comprehensive review of Australia's space sector [industry.gov.au], will lead the agency, the ABC reported.

Prof Alan Duffy, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University, said the agency would be primarily focused on research and economic development. "Rather than putting people into space, it will be focused on creating jobs for those people on earth," he said. "Space is a global sector worth some $420bn and grows faster than China's economy – it's something we want to be a part of. The aim is to develop commercial opportunities so Australian start-ups and companies gain access to this very valuable sector."

There are already space-related start-ups in Australia, but the government hopes to boost Australia's share of the growing global space market from 0.8% to 1.8%.

Also at Science Magazine [sciencemag.org].

See also: Australia is late to the space agency party, but that's not necessarily a bad thing [abc.net.au]

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