We are pleased to announce the grant recipients of our Research Pilot Program and Seed Project Program. A call for SRN Research Pilot and Seed Funding projects was issued in December 2021, with applications closing in mid-February, 2022. A total of 16 Research Pilot and 4 Seed Funding proposals were received. The total requested funding for the Research Pilots was $2,289,354.56 while for the Seed Funding attotal of $299,293.00 was requested. On the basis of expert reviews of each proposal, 7 Research Pilot and 2 Seed Funding projects were selected to receive funding through this round of funding.
Research Pilot Projects
We received a strong pool of 16 applications for Research Pilot Projects. Seven projects were selected for funding, representing an investment of $1,028,563.00 by the NSW State Government to promote collaborative research in NSW in the space sector.
The research pilot projects selected in the first funding round of 2022 are:
| ID | Project | Investigator(s) | Lead University | Announced | Institutional Partner | Industry Partner | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP220101 | Multi-modal Satellite-based Vessel Surveillance via Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging. To establish space-based surveillance capability by developing a novel multi-modal deep learning system for detecting, recognising, and tracking sea vessels from satellite optical and synthetic aperture radar images. | Prof. Son Lam Phung; Prof. Abdesselam Bouzerdoum; Prof. Willy Susilo; Dr. Fok Hing Chi Tivive; A/Prof. Le Chung Tran; Prof. Christian Ritz; A/Prof. Raad Raad; A/Prof. Sebastian Oberst; Dr. Benjamin Halkon | University of Wollongong | 26/05/2022 | University of Technology Sydney | Industry Spec Drones | $147,282 |
| RP220102 | Lunar Navigation. To develop and integrate two positioning instruments for lunar navigation: celestial navigation and high-sensitivity GNSS receiver. | Prof. Andrew Dempster; Dr. Eamonn Glennon; Dr. Xiaofeng Wu; Joshua Critchley-Marrows | University of New South Wales | 26/05/2022 | University of Sydney | Seaskip Systems | $149,634 |
| RP220103 | Microcrack suppression in lightweight and recyclable thermoplastic-fibre composites for cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tank. Development of a lightweight and recyclable fibre- reinforced thermoplastic composites technology capable of mitigating matrix microcracking at cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) temperature. | Prof. Chun H Wang; Dr. Mohammad S Islam; Prof. Liyong Tong | University of New South Wales | 26/05/2022 | University of Sydney | $150,000 | |
| RP220104 | Space qualification of Gallium Nitride power amplifiers. To qualify GaN technology for reliability in space applications. It will lead to sovereign capability in designing GaN communication electronics qualified for usage in space-borne systems. | A/Prof. Sourabh Khandelwal; Prof. Simon Mahon; Dr. Xi (Forest) Zhu; | Macquarie University | 26/05/2022 | University of Technology Sydney | ANSTO | $149,830 |
| RP220105 | Laser Heterodyne Radiometer Development Towards Future Spaceflight. Develop key technology to enable the use of space-based laser heterodyne radiometer for fingerprinting and classifying methane emissions sources. | Dr. Ediz Cetin; Mr. Vu Hoang Thang Chau; A/Prof. Oliver Diessel; Dr. James Bevington | Macquarie University | 26/05/2022 | University of New South Wales | Interplanetary Exploration Institute | $140,646 |
| RP220106 | Cooling SmallSats - Thermal lattice metamaterial technology. Develop advanced microlattice thermal metamaterials to tackle the current challenge in efficiently dissipating heat generated from the GPUs of high-performing computers that are onboard SmallSats. | A/Prof. Zhen (Jeff) Luo; Dr. Nick Bennet; Dr. Lee (Mickey) Clemon; Dr. Xiaofeng Wu; Prof. Iver H. Cairns; Prof. Sarah Zhang; Prof. Richard Yang | University of Technology Sydney | 26/05/2022 | University of Sydney; Western Sydney University | Spiral Blue | $141,171 |
| RP220107 | A roadmap for space photovoltaics in Australia. To establish a roadmap for high performance space photovoltaic technologies and to identify existing and future national infrastructure for R&D, testing and qualification critical for the emerging Australian space-photovoltaic industry. | Prof. Anita Ho-Baillie; Prof. David McKenzie; Prof. Iver Cairns; Prof. Gavin Conibeer; A/Prof. Nicholas Ekins-Daukes; A/Prof. Stephen Bremner; A/Prof. Santosh Shrestha; Dr. Ceri Brenner; Dr. Stefania Peracchi | University of Sydney | 26/05/2022 | University of New South Wales | ANSTO | $150,000 |
Seed Projects
We received 4 applications for Seed Projects. Two projects were selected for funding, representing an investment of $149,293.00 by the NSW State Government to promote collaborative research with industry and leveraging over $350,000 of co-investment from partners.
The seed projects selected in the first funding round of 2022 are:
| ID | Project | Lead University | Industry Partner | Announced | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP220101 | Development of a Flight Model of the CROSS Star Tracker. To develop a commercialised, competitive flight model of the CROSS star tracker, including the imaging system and fast, fault-tolerant computing hardware. | University of Sydney | Space Machines Co. | 26/05/2022 | $74,781 |
| SP220102 | Extraterrestrial Solar Arrays. Mass producible, rollable solar arrays for cost conscious satellites and Lunar surface uses. | University of New South Wales | Extraterrestrial Power Pty. Ltd. | 26/05/2022 | $74,512 |