The Future of Space in Australia

Chris Hewett, General Manager, Strategy and Industry, Australian Space Agency, is responsible for the Australian Space Agency’s policy development and coordination, industry growth facilitation, and the teams supporting the operations of the Agency. Chris leads the development of advice to achieve the Australian Civil Space Strategy vision, including how to grow Australian industry through investment and workforce development. Chris and his team engage across government and international counterparts on space matters and development opportunities.

Dr Kimberley Clayfield, Director, Space Research Program, CSIRO, oversees the CSIRO Centre for Earth Observation and the AquaWatch Australia Mission. Kimberley is also the Leader of the CSIRO Space Technology Future Science Platform (Space FSP). Under her leadership, the Space FSP was established in November 2018 to build capability, identify and develop innovative new space technologies and applications, and support the growth of Australia's space industry. This multidisciplinary program carries out a wide range of space technology research and development activities in areas including small satellite technologies (such as imaging sensors, power systems and materials), Earth observation data analytics and applications, space communications, space object tracking and signal processing, robotics, remote operations and in situ resource utilisation, and space life sciences.

Dr Graziella Caprarelli, Adjunct Faculty Member, International Space University, is a geoscientist with an extensive body of research on Earth and Mars. She is the current President of Women in Space, a chapter of the National Space Society of Australia. Graziella is well known for her contribution to the discovery of Martian lakes at the base of the south polar cap. She won the Scientist of the Year at the Australian Space Awards in 2021.

Professor Brad Carter, Director, Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, has teaching experience in physics, astronomy, science and engineering, and his research experience includes stellar astrophysics, exoplanet science, astronomical instrumentation, and other areas of astronomical and space sciences. Brad’s research focuses on the shared evolution of stars, their planetary systems, and the technology used to observe them. Brad’s ongoing activities include representing UniSQ in national and international research partnerships, postgraduate student supervision, and working with the team operating Mt Kent Observatory, Queensland’s astronomical and space sciences research facility.

Dr Joni Sytsma, Chief Technology Officer iLAuNCH Trailblazer, is an aerospace engineer hailing from the USA who, as a recent citizen of Australia, is committed to building innovative technologies within our country.  Joni has over 16 years’ experience in the research, development and commercialisation of extremely complex aerospace systems where combined interactions of hardware, software and physics are the defining value-add.

As the Chief Technology Officer (iLAuNCH),  Joni leads the program’s research portfolio in space, satellites, rockets, hypersonics and advanced manufacturing and materials.

Joni was most recently Chief Technology Officer at Department 13 in the counter unmanned aerial systems field. Joni began her career with a decade of developing cutting edge aerospace systems at the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In her time at AFRL, Joni led research and development teams to design and optimise aerospace technologies and develop academic concepts into fully tested systems.

 Joni moved to Australia to join the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) program with Defence Science and Technology (DST) group. She then joined Gilmour Space Technologies as Head of GNC to work on software stack development, performance simulations and design optimisations.

Dr Belinda Nicholson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Women in STEMM, University of Southern Queensland, is a postdoctoral Women in STEM Fellow at UniSQ. Belinda completed her PhD on the magnetic activity and winds of young, cool stars at UniSQ in 2019, followed by a three-and-a-half-year postdoctoral research assistant position in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford and Fulford Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College. The focus of Belinda's research is on detecting and characterising exoplanets, particularly for planets on medium-long orbits, and investigating ways to mitigate stellar activity in stellar radial velocity and light curve data.