Quasar Satellite Technologies has been awarded a $5.3 million Defence Innovation Hub contract for space communications and space domain awareness.
The company has been awarded the contract to further develop its multibeam phased array ground station system that may support hundreds of satellite communications simultaneously with a single compact antenna.
Currently traditional parabolic dish-based ground communications antennas can only support one satellite at a time for communication and management, creating a communications bottleneck.
The company says with more than 50,000 satellites expected to be launched in the next decade (currently there are just 6,000), there is a large and pressing need to fundamentally improve the way that satellites are supported, and how space data is managed.
Quasar’s technology also meets another pressing space industry problem – what is in space and what is its purpose (called space domain awareness).
"We are very excited to receive this investment from the Defence Innovation Hub," Phil Ridley, CEO Quasar Satellite Technologies said. “This support allows us to fast-track expansion of our unique phased array technology into new satellite bands, and ultimately contribute to our vision of creating a powerful, flexible, scalable, sovereign satellite communications capability for Australia.”
Quasar was formed in 2021 from a partnership with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, repurposing advanced technology developed over the past decade for radio astronomy, to solve 'the biggest data congestion challenge facing the satellite industry today'.
The company says customers will be able to access the patented true multibeam and all-digital phased array ground station system through its Software-as-a-Service model.