Australian defense firm Nova Systems has officially launched a new ground station facility in Southern Australia.
The 21-hectare Space Precinct site is located on Cotton Road outside of Peterborough in South Australia, and was inaugurated by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall this week.
Marshall said: “This unique ground station hosts world-leading technology connecting satellites to Earth and supports the state’s plan to grow its presence in the $500 billion-a-year global space sector.”
The Space Precinct site supports the Australian Space Agency, and Nova recently signed a new agreement with European space company Leaf Space which has just installed an additional terminal at the site.
“It provides vital in-country capability, a critical element of Australia’s space industry ecosystem, and has been designed for the international space market,” said Jim McDowell, CEO of Nova Systems. He added more than half a million Australian dollars had been invested into Peterborough since 2019.
“The continued development and future success of the Peterborough site is testament to our space capability, made up of satellite communications and space specialists working at the forefront of industry.”
Nova Systems successfully acquired Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) licensing in commercial ultra-high frequency, S, and X-band for the location. Currently, the team is connecting fiber to the site to attract further interest from both government and commercial clients, according to the company.
Nova bought the site in Peterborough and installed its first terminal, belonging to Tyvak, in 2019 and has since expanded the site. As well as Leaf and Tyvak, clients at the site include RBC USA. The site will also house the UHF terminal that is part of the Nova Systems’ Autonomous Intelligent Ground Station System (NAIGS) being developed as part of the Australian Space Agency’s funded Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) Satellite Project.
Leaf Space, which offers ground station-as-a-service (GSaaS) products, operates 15 ground stations locations globally including in Scotland, Iceland, Bulgaria, and Canada; it added five in October 2021, including the site in Southern Australia.
