BAS Observer November 2017

NOVEMBER 2017 9 Australia rates very highly in space start-ups per capita : these are not big, multinational companies, but small enterprises making a disproportionate contribution in niche areas. The Australian space agency will have a regulatory role, obviously, but it needs to do what the industry can’t do for itself. It needs to represent the Australian people at home and abroad, it needs to pursue Australia’s interests in global space governance bodies, it needs to not only help seize opportunities for Australia but actually create opportunities, and it needs to be a focal point internally and externally. Perhaps most importantly, it needs to facilitate collaboration by the many government agencies, plus the academic, research and other civil institutions and the growing number of commercial enterprises involved in space in Australia. It also needs a strategy that identifies some enduring, national ‘beacon’ projects to muster the immense energy in the Australian space industry right now and which will herald our place in space. This, and more, is what we hope to hear about in the next few days or, at most, months. Disclosure statement Andrew Dempster receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Duncan Blake is a member of the Space Industry Association of Australia and provides consultancy services in space law and strategy for International Aerospace Law and Policy Group. Graziella Caprarelli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.  ■ NO PLUTONIC NATION By Eido AP Dwarf planet Pluto The fifth big rock Its blue sky glows What a shock Has a thin atmosphere Very weak gravity No oceans surge here Its surface is icy There are no towns Just desolation On this tundric ground There’s no Plutonic Nation.