SA space start-ups to develop space distress beacon

A system that could help locate and rescue astronauts stranded in remote areas on the moon, and a spacecraft with world-leading AI capabilities be backed by South Australian Government funding.

The two South Australian start-ups behind the innovations – Safety from Space and AICRAFT – have each secured $100,000 in funding from the inaugural South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund.

Safety from Space will receive funding for its Lunar Search and Rescue (LunaSAR) project. This will trial advanced satellite communications (SATCOM) capabilities for future astronaut search and rescue operations on the surface of the Moon.

A collaboration with NASA, the US and the Australian arm of The Mars Society, along with a collective of Australian partners including SmartSat CRC, UniSA and Flinders University, this will be an Australian-first field trial of lunar distress beacons.

The trial LunaSAR system aims to provide a lighter weight, longer battery life radio beacon with greater reliability than current devices.

A successful trial could pave the way for a unique Australian contribution to NASA’s Artemis Program and emergency communication applications closer to home, operating without reliance on local network infrastructure.

“Ensuring the safe return of astronauts in the event of an emergency is critical to interplanetary exploration, and we are passionate to see our breakthrough communications technology playing a pivotal role,” said Safety from Space’s founder Mark Rice. “Our collaboration with NASA has put Australia at the forefront of two-way communications for search and rescue, and we are extremely grateful for the funding from the South Australian Government to make it possible.”

AICRAFT’s ‘Leoflect’ project will create a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload that will be lighter and smaller than others on the market.

It will use advanced AI models to deliver power-efficient, high-speed data processing and analysis on orbit – a solution that is years ahead of existing technologies. A partnership with India’s Guerin Technologies, the project will significantly enhance available SAR satellite capabilities.

“[We] are thrilled to partner with Guerin Technologies on our ‘Leoflect’ project to harness the innovation in both our companies and deliver the most compact SAR antenna and most compact, low-power onboard computer on the market,” said AICraft EO Tony Scoleri. “SAR data is critically important and can be used in applications such as agriculture, forestry, glacier monitoring, maritime surveillance and Defence intelligence.”

Launched earlier this year, the South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund is designed to accelerate the development of local space innovations and collaboration with international partners.

Details on the next round of funding will be announced in coming months, according to the SA Government.