Av-Comm Space and Defence has supplied the satellite ground station and antenna system.
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is now home to a state-of-the-art satellite ground station at its Joondalup campus, signalling a major leap forward for student learning, research capability and technology development in Western Australia.
The satellite ground station and antenna system is the only facility of its kind at a Western Australian university, and positions ECU at the forefront of Australia's rapidly expanding defence and space sector.
Installed atop of Building 23, the 2.4 metre diameter satellite enables real-time tracking and communications with low-earth orbit satellites. The system will give students and researchers hands-on access to defence and space technologies, mission operations and data streams that were previously out of reach.
Associate Professor Leslie Sikos, ECU's Associate Dean of Computing and Security, said the infrastructure would help support Australian space research, education and industry.
"We are thrilled to bring this advanced space capability to Edith Cowan University," Associate Professor Sikos said. "The facility incorporates the latest design and most sophisticated technology, achieving the goals of tracking satellites, conducting earth observation and satellite communications."
The new infrastructure will expand ECU's research capacity while giving students direct experience.
Associate Professor Stacey Reinke, Executive Dean of the School of Science, said the facility will significantly expand ECU's research capacity while giving students direct experience with real satellite missions.
"The ground station will also accelerate ECU's contribution to next-generation defence and security technologies, including an Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite project developing a software-defence radio platform for rapid, high-precision drone detection," Associate Professor Reinke said.
The facility contributes to the Western Australian Space Industry Strategy 2024-30, and will ultimately support Stage 2 of NASA's IGNIS Mission, assisting with the mapping and monitoring of thermal activity and lightning patterns.
The infrastructure was supplied by Av-Comm Space and Defence, Australia's only wide-band antenna system manufacturer and a recognised leader in sovereign space capability.
