Two Aussie organisations have come together to bring space education outreach to Pacific Island nations.
One Giant Leap Australia Foundation and Cambrian Defence & Space joined forces earlier this year as part of an initiative to offer scholarships to Pacific Island nation students who wanted to attend the Global Space Challenge 2024.
What is the Global Space Challenge?
The Global Space Challenge is an event bringing together specialists from the space community, astronauts and space leaders to solve a collection of interesting problems with students from around the country.
This year, events included daily mission training from space professionals, and simulations to design a mission to another planet. Students were encouraged to learn from astronauts, engineers and scientists while designing a spacecraft using sustainable resources. Each team was competing for the best mission design.
Space education as part of the Global Space Challenge.
What is the initiative?
The event, which ran between 5-10 October, saw a large number of Pacific Island students attending, thanks to the new initiative.
The One Giant Leap Australian Foundation is a not-for-profit working to advance STEM education and careers, while Cambrian Defence & Space is an Australian defence and space industry consultancy creating pathways for research and technological development.
According to Cambrian’s Director of Space, Tiffany Sharp, “teaching younger generations about space technology applications in the Indo Pacific has flow on effects, in understanding how space can support agriculture, fisheries, climate adaptation, local economies, remote medicine and education.”
One Giant Leap’s Jenna McCarthy, the woman responsible for running the Global Space Challenge, said “Educating youth about space and how it can assist their community today, whilst creating new education and career pathways, is a win for these remote communities and a win for our regional space industry.”
The team wanted to incorporate Pacific Island cultural and historical links to the stars and space in the educational challenge, tailoring topics to the students’ interests including sustainable development, space debris and sea debris problems. Another key aim was to bring space and STEM education to women and girls in remote communities.
The Global Space Challenge included designing a rocket for space exploration.
How big is Australia’s space industry?
According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australia’s space sector is currently worth around $5 billion each year. The industry is growing quickly, with new spaceports and ground stations constantly being developed, as well as partnerships with key global space agencies including NASA, the UK Space Agency, JAXA and European Space Agency.
All states and territories in the country have at least one university offering space-related courses and completing space-based research, as well as public organisations involved in research. In fact, the Australian Space Agency reveals that 618 different organisations were involved in the space sector in 2021, taking part in several diverse activities including manufacturing satellites, launching rockets, receiving satellite data or selling geospatial products.
This rapidly growing industry needs experts and graduates who are excited about contributing to the study of space. Initiatives like the scholarships currently being ordered to Pacific Island nation students could help to foster a passion for space and bring in the next generation of scientists.
Sharp concludes that “Space education is putting the future of space technological ‘agency’ back in the hands of local communities and in return we gain a greater diversity of thought to solve complex problems that benefit humanity.”
“The Pacific Island nations are important members of a wider regional community, and their voices are important in exploring space capability to benefit Earth.”
Opening image: a satellite in orbit © NASA.