A 7.3m (23.95 foot) antenna in rural Tasmania, dubbed the southernmost of its kind, will boost the tracking of satellites and help keep them safe from space debris.
The $2 million (US$1.4 million) communications antenna was on Tuesday unveiled at the University of Tasmania’s Greenhill Observatory, about 70 km north of Hobart.
Prof. Simon Ellingsen, the dean of the university’s school of natural sciences, said the technology would provide space-to-earth communications for low-earth-orbit satellites.
“(This is) a great new capability in terms of being able to communicate and track satellites and other objects in space,” he said.
“(As well as) in terms of space domain awareness, which is where we find out what’s in space, track it and help keep active satellites safe from space debris and other bits of space junk.”…