Victoria's space industry could see a massive boost after the Department of Defence announced its preferred tenderer for the JP9102 project.
International aerospace company Lockheed Martin has been revealed as the preferred bidder.
Last month theVictorian government announced its support for the company's bid at the Avalon 2023: Australian International Airshow.
The JP9102 project will be the first major space program in Australia designed for the Australian Defence Force and will deliver a satellite communication solution for the ADF.
Lockheed Martin was one of five companies bidding for the project and will now enter into contract negotiations with the federal government.
Winning the contract would mean Victoria's space industry gets an influx of investment, creating jobs.
Victoria’s space industry generates $400 million a year, employing 2300 people in 250 businesses.
The project will create more than 200 jobs in the advanced space industry, making Victoria an engineering and technology hub for the military satellite communications solution.
“The proposed investments in infrastructure, skilled jobs and STEM initiatives are designed to contribute significantly to ensuring Victoria’s space economy grows sustainably for decades to come,” Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand chief executive Warren McDonald said.
Lockheed Martin Australia employs more than 1200 people in the aerospace, defence and civil sectors including more than 150 people in Victorian sites.
The company also engages 120 Victorian suppliers, supporting more than 2000 jobs in Victoria and contributes more than $160 million to the state’s GDP.
It already has a research and development facility, STELaRLab, that partners with universities to develop technology in space-based image exploitation and space domain awareness.
The defence sector is an often unconsidered sector for most developers but the Australian Department of Defence has one of the largest real estate portfolios in the country, valued at $64 billion with 394 properties.
There is also $3.3 billion set aside for real estate and infrastructure programs within the portfolio.
Projects centre not just around technology and equipment but also around what is needed to retain and support the 64,200 permanent workforce the department expects to have over the next decade.
On the Gold Coast, former banker Adam Gilmour and brother James’s Gilmour Space is on track to be the first Australian company to build and launch a rocket into space.
The Eris is on schedule to be launched by August this year with a prototype surveillance satellite for defence also scheduled to launch this year.
Gilmour Space received a $15 million contract for the satellite in May 2022 and partners with Griffith University to develop technology.
