On this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer speaks to Space Industry Association of Australia CEO James Brown about the Australian space industry.

When Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, it was an Australian tracking station that relayed the pictures to the world. This remarkable fact was the product of an agreement signed by Robert Menzies in February 1960, which saw Australia become an essential partner to the successful American effort to win the space race.

Australia was important because of our unique geographical location, but also because we were leading experts in the field of ‘Radiophysics’ which had evolved out of experiments with radar during the Second World War. When Menzies invested vast government funds in the construction of the famous Parkes radio-telescope, matching generous funding from American philanthropists, it was to keep Australia’s place at the cutting-edge of scientific research. Australia was arguably just the fourth country to ever launch its own satellite into orbit in 1967, and with the establishment of an Australian Space Agency in 2018 the Australian space industry looks set to take-off once again.

James Brown is the CEO of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), Australia’s peak body for the space economy. A national security and public policy expert, James has previously held research appointments at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, United States Studies Centre, and the University of Sydney. He is currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the United States Studies Centre, Chairman of the charity Veteran Sports Australia, and a strategic adviser to the University of Technology Sydney. Between 2017 and 2019 James led the rebuilding and modernisation of Australia’s largest veteran’s organisation, the RSL, as its youngest ever elected President. He is a former Army officer with service in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Solomon Islands.