Stone & Chalk Group improving life on Earth through increased Space Tech commitment

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA 27 September 2022 — Australia’s largest innovation community and home for emerging tech innovation, Stone & Chalk Group, has today announced its strengthened commitment to bring Australia to the frontier of global space technology, as it continues to transform the nation into a sustainable tech-driven economy.

Stone & Chalk Group’s space technology founders are working to usher in the next global advancements. From using satellite technology to listen to windmills and determine their efficiency levels to assisting NASA to test, launch and recover rockets and payloads, Stone & Chalk founders push the boundaries of what is possible.

“Australia has had a big impact on global space developments, with Aussie tracking stations playing important roles in the Apollo 11 mission and helping NASA bring TV images of the first moonwalk to the world. Although Australians are often quiet about their accomplishments, with the global space industry taking off now is the time to tell the world what Australia has achieved and what we are capable of,” said Michael Bromley, CEO of Stone & Chalk. 

“Space technology is Earth technology; you only need to look at weather forecasting, the internet, online banking or farmers monitoring crop health. Simply because it may not end up in space does not reduce the positive impact it will have on society. Stone & Chalk is committed to fostering innovative local space technology startups and scaleups to have a huge impact on the future locally, globally, and in outer space.”

The Australian Government aims to triple the size of Australia’s space industry to A$12 billion and create 20,000 new jobs by 2030 through the Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019–2028. Alongside Labor’s $A1 billion Investment in Advanced Manufacturing, Australian space investment is increasing. Euroconsult reported that the global space market totalled US$370 billion (A$538 billion) in 2021 and is expected to grow 74 per cent by 2030.

“Space will play a critical role in solving some of Australia’s and the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Christopher Kirk, General Manager of Stone & Chalk Adelaide. “Stone & Chalk’s Adelaide presence embodies Aussie ambition to expand beyond traditional industries, foster innovation and catalyse prosperous growth for the future of Australia. Here in Adelaide, we support the next generation of Australian deep tech entrepreneurs, growing the Aussie space industry.”

Equatorial Launch Australia, a Stone & Chalk resident, is on a mission to be the pre-eminent multi-user commercial space launch facility. Headquartered out of Lot Fourteen, they have launched three NASA research rockets, from far North Australia, marking NASA’s first launch from a commercial launch site. Leading the way for Australia's space tech, their team demonstrates the capability and facilities Australia has to offer.

A second Stone & Chalk founder, Perennial, embodies space tech being earth tech. Applying satellite data to map soil organic carbon content to lessen the burden of collecting local farm data, each Perennial measurement contains hundreds or thousands of individual predictions, capturing the unique carbon fingerprint of each field. Ultimately, Perennial is using space imagery to verify carbon removal from soil.

To find out more about the development of space technology, register to attend Stone & Chalk’s upcoming event deep diving into the current state of space tech, exciting upcoming technological developments, space ventures and what challenges and opportunities exist on Australia’s horizon. Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/s-and-c-national-space-event 

Below is a list of Stone & Chalk Group’s founders working on space technology:

• Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) provides world-class launch services supporting the testing, launch and recovery of space vehicles and payloads flown to and from all space orbits.
• Perennial is building the world’s leading verification platform for soil-based carbon removal.
• ResearchSat enables life-science researchers around the world to run experiments in space with their customisable & affordable satellite infrastructures.
• Robinson Aerospace is focused on the development of CubeSat educational kits, used by students in years 10–12. These kits are designed to educate students on space, STEM and potential space industry career options here in Australia.

ENDS

About Stone & Chalk Group

Stone & Chalk Group is the largest innovation community in Australia.

We support startups, scaleups, corporations and government, at every stage of their innovation journey. We foster a community of founders, mentors, experts, corporates, partners, and collaborators to help entrepreneurs and businesses build, grow, and commercialise ideas. Ensuring they have everything they need to adapt and thrive in an age of technological disruption.

For more information, visit Stone & Chalk https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/ 

Media Contact

Courtney Phelps, M: 0452 663 095, E: courtneyphelps@slingstone.com

Tom Finnigan, M: 0408 867 367, E: tom@austcyber.com