Australian Perspectives on Knowledge Transfer from Space Technologies to Global Health

Abstract

Australia plays a unique role in the global space network with its exceptional location and the outstanding contributions to space science and international space programs. Its partnership with NASA dates back 50 years and continues to push boundaries of exploration in search of benefits to life on Earth. Afar from the global expeditions, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) was established by the government in July 2018, with a mandate on development and application of space technologies on Earth and assisting with the growth of the civic space and public health. Australia has significant experience in integrating space sourced data into communications, Earth Observations from Space, and Global Navigational Satellite Services (GNSS), with an advantage of its participation in the international space industry supply chain from the southern hemisphere. Strong capabilities are exhibited in photonics, quantum cryptography, optical design, adaptive optics, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and 3D-printing, which are space derived. Use cases presented in this chapter illustrate some of these areas. Digital Earth Australia and open Data Cube initiatives which enable space sourced data synthesis, The Mangrove Observing System and IoT integration applications in public health are presented in this chapter. Australian initiatives in capacity building and knowledge translation using space derived data, apps and capabilities were presented at the 56th UNCOPOUS meeting in Vienna, which have been detailed in this chapter.