The Seven Sisters, a consortium of companies in South Australia led by small-satellite developer Fleet Space Technologies, is bidding for the Australian Government Trailblazer grant which funds the development of lunar rovers and associated technologies.
The Seven Sisters is an initiative to discover abundant resources for humanity’s exploration of space through the implementation of surface exploration and construction technologies. The consortium, composed of Australian companies and academic institutions, will lead Australia’s contribution to NASA's forthcoming moon and mars missions.
Fleet Space is seeking to draw upon the government's support through the bidding process for the Trailblazer programme, which will provide federal funding for the Moon to Mars initiative. Its purpose is to raise funding to leverage and diversify Australia's remote operations skills and experience by developing new foundation services capabilities, encouraging investment and opportunities in the Australian space sector.
Fleet Space is leading the consortium response and has engaged professional services firm, PwC Australia, to provide its financial and consulting capabilities.
The competitive grant opportunity provides up to $4 million in essential funding for the development of foundation services rover solutions through early mission phases to Preliminary Design Review (PDR).
“We are proud to be part of one of the world’s great centres of excellence for the development of leading space exploration technologies," Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-Founder, Fleet Space Technologies, said. "Involvement in endeavours like the Seven Sisters Project and its bold mission to support NASA’s ground-breaking moon and Mars missions are vital to growing a sector of increasing strategic importance for our nation.
"Grants like the Trailblazer enable innovation and national collaboration and we are delighted to submit our bid to be part of a truly historic mission with benefits around the globe and at home in Australia.”