News Service from House Harris

Fed: Australia needs a space program: Senate report

A Senate report calls for Australia to establish its own space agency ..like NASA in the US.

The Senate Standing Committee on Economics says Australia's missing out on significant innovation and technology opportunities because it lacks a space agency.

The committee's report says the government should establish a Space Industry Advisory Council to oversee the creation of a fully-fledged agency.

The council would be made up of industry representatives .. government agencies .. defence personnel and academics .. and chaired by the federal innovation minister.

The report's noted that even though Australia was the fourth nation to build and launch a satellite from its own territory .. it's now almost completely reliant on satellites owned and operated by other countries.

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