International Space Centre

TN-3 is trading WA sunsets for Sydney skylines 🌞🏢 From WA to Sydney, our rapid deployable optical ground station is making the journey east for @IAC2025sydney. See it up close and meet the TeraNet team at the International Astronautical Congress from 29 September – 3 October. #TeraNet #IAC2025 #onroute

Very early Monday morning Australians are in for a celestial treat - a total lunar eclipse! This ‘blood moon’ will be the only total lunar eclipse visible in Australia for 2025, so set your alarms. Professor @dobreschkow has created this helpful diagram to help you get the best view. 🔭🌖 @uwanews @ICRAR

Congratulations to Dr James Lloyd from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space for being named a 2025 WA Young Tall Poppy! James is a very active member of ISC's Plants for Space Node and Mission Control, and we're delighted to see him recognised in this way. James's work in Professor Ryan Lister's lab seeks to edit the DNA of plants to allow them to grow in harsh environments and produce new products - which means a future in rewiring plants to help humans survive in space. uwa.edu.au/news/article/2025… @plants4space @JamesPBLloyd @uwanews @AusSpaceAgency @ry_lister

🛰️ Contamination in Outer Space 🌌 Thanks to Associate Professor @natasha_pauli for inviting the International Space Centre to speak at the third-year Geography seminar yesterday. The panel, which included Professors @dobreschkow, @SaschaSchediwy and Erika Techera, spoke on topics such as global cooperation, balancing the benefits vs problems caused by overcrowding in LEO, what 'contamination' means, and of course, shooting down all the problems with lasers. We heard some fabulous questions from the students - and we really enjoyed the scrutiny of such an important topic! @uwanews

“Every rocket that stumbles off the pad teaches us how to reach the stars! Thank you, @GilmourSpace team.” - Professor @dobreschkow, Director of the International Space Centre at @uwanews . Yesterday ISC Board member and Executive Director of @ICRAR Professor Simon Ellingsen reflected on the progress made for Australian rocket sovereign capability following Gilmour's test launch in Bowen to @abcnews . "A rocket launch is really a mildly controlled explosion - a really tricky business," he commented. "Getting into space is a difficult business and if Australia wants this capability then we have to go down this path." 📻 here: abc.net.au/listen/programs/w… 📸 Gilmour Space Technologies

Join our Director Professor @dobreschkow for @Aus_ScienceWeek to learn all about the Wonders of the Cosmos! 🎟️ As night falls, the stars begin to tell a story more enthralling than our imagination can conceive. Join astrophysicist Professor Danail Obreschkow—Director of the UWA International Space Centre and researcher at @ICRAR on a cosmic journey through space and time. This educational talk will take us from our home planet to the edge of the universe, illuminating our place in the cosmos and exploring recent discoveries, from interstellar comets and mysterious radio flashes to distant galaxies and beyond. The adventure concludes with a captivating plunge into a black hole! This talk is for adults, however children above the age of 12 are welcome if accompanied by an adult. This event celebrates #NationalScienceWeek2025. 🎟️ eventbrite.com.au/e/wonders-… 📅 Monday, 11 August 2025 🕕 6pm 🏫 Subiaco Library, 237 Rokeby Road Subiaco, WA 6008 Discover more educational science events happening around the country on the National Science Week website at scienceweek.net.au/ @uwanews

Out of this world content production by GeoCo! Professor Marco Fiorentini was interviewed by Holly Cooke and Dr Anthony Reid on their Wonder podcast - and we dare you not to be caught up in their awe-filled enthusiasm for the geological library that is Australia. 🎧 Listen to a quick excerpt: bit.ly/4ke5Af2 📢 Full episode & more here: bit.ly/4jrizsw

Mission Control is the ISC's social club for early career researchers in space at @uwanews, and spans all spectrums of space development. Today the crew were enthralled to hear about designing flying robots for the International Space Station over pizza with Dr Mark Micire, lead of the Intelligent Robotics Group for the Smart SPHERES project at @NASAAmes. Thanks so much to Mark for sharing your time and expertise, asking the big questions: 'Why are you trying to kill the NASA Astronauts?!' @AusSpaceAgency

So great to see Satellite Remote Sensing’s capability reach this milestone! Well done to Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi and his team. These gliders have logged 3.45 billion (not a typo) over the 400 missions! @AusSpaceAgency

🕑 Making entry around 2pm AWST today, Kosmos 482 has been the centre of attention for the media this week, and those in the space situational awareness domain. 📰 @benoshea at The West Australian spoke to our expert A/Prof. David Coward - one of two Australian signatories to the International Asteroid Warning Network, a UN-backed BBC planetary defence organisation. Read Ben’s story in today’s West: thewest.com.au/technology/sp… @uwanews @AusSpaceAgency @Fogarty_Fdn

Congratulations to David Coward and Natasha Pauli for being funny scientists! Tomorrow night Marco Fiorentini, our resident space rocks expert, turns his hand to comedy at The Rechabite in Northbridge - snap up your tickets now! @uwanews @ScienceTalksAU

Imagine a future where plants don’t just thrive on Earth – but sustain human life beyond our planet. @plants4space, with @uwanews as a leading partner, is pioneering fast-growing, zero-waste, ‘pick and eat’ plants designed for long-term survival in space and you can explore this bold vision at the Perth Garden Show next month. uwa.edu.au/news/article/2025…

🎭Perth’s Comedy Festival is on now with some of our own featured:    David Coward is one of our leading scientists for Space Situational Awareness who will be giving a comedic take on Planetary Defence with facts, laughs and hopefully a crash course on how to not die from space rocks because if the world is ending, you might as well go out laughing!  🌏 ☄️😆 Join Friend of the ISC Natasha Pauli for the laughs and the layers of (sediment and sarcasm) in stand-up all about the messy, beautiful, and sometimes ridiculous ways humans interact with the planet. 🌍🫵😂 🎟️ Get your tickets here:  perthcomedyfestival.com/even…

We love seeing our bright WA talent making waves on the global stage 🌏 Congratulations to Ayden McCann,@uwanews @icrar PhD candidate and one of the brilliant minds behind the TeraNet project, on the publication of this game-changing research in Nature — and the fantastic spotlight video to match. At the International Space Centre, we’re proud to support initiatives like TeraNet that push the boundaries of what's possible in satellite communications and laser tech. This is what innovation in action looks like. nature.com/articles/s41598-0… 📖 Read this feature article in The West Australian by Ben O'Shea 👉 thewest.com.au/news/conflict… #WAspace #internationalspacecentre #TeraNet #lasercomms #satelliteinnovation #spacetech #UWA #australianscience

What value does commercial space tourism add to the space exploration supply chain? @abcnews asked us to comment on the recent return of @blueorigin space tourists including celebrities Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez. Commercial space flights can be very effective for raising the conversation, and inspiring STEM participation, but one-off missions are unlikely to bring benefits back into the country in terms of scientific infrastructure, technological innovations and sovereign capability. They can, however, help reduce the cost of access to space and open up new markets. To grow a space industry that enables access and benefits for all a country's citizens - we need a government-driven human spaceflight and exploration program. This will: 🚀 increase international collaboration and strengthen international partnerships; 🚀 allow long-term investment in the advancement of science; 🚀 provide scaffolding for investment in education, research and workforce development; 🚀 encompass long-term sustainability and policy planning; and 🚀 define national security. The ISC's General Manager Larissa Wiese commented on @SabraLane's AM program. abc.net.au/listen/programs/a… 📷 Blue Origin @AussieAstroKat @uwanews @AusSpaceAgency

The return of Fram2’s crew, including Australian polar explorer Eric Philips, ignited some great questions about the difference between commercial flights and government missions. We spoke to @abcnews last night about the critical need to have science and space prioritised in funding and policy at a federal level, to ensure that benefits to the Australian economy, scientific infrastructure and international collaborations are realised. iview.abc.net.au/show/abc-ne… 📼 at 21.40 @uwanews @ICRAR

Please join us in warmly welcoming our new Administration Officer, Jessika Anderson! Jessika steps into a key role at our Centre—one that's clearly in high demand. With nearly 600 terrific applicants for the position, it's evident that there's a strong passion for working in the space industry. We’re excited to introduce Jessika to our broader team and partners soon!

🚀 The Australian Rover Challenge is underway at the University of Adelaide and the @uwanews is competing against national and international teams for the title! 🤖 Stream them live here! m.youtube.com/watch?v=pgxPKH… The ISC is proud to sponsor our team to travel to South Australia, where student-built rovers have to operate on a simulated lunar surface and solve a number of tasks, such as descending from a lander, connecting a cable to a satellite base station, and examining soil samples. Good luck to the team in Professor Thomas Bräunl‘s Automation and Robotics Node at the ISC!