The Government's $160.5 million investment will bolster Australia's proud record in space and astronomy research and boost our chance of hosting the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
Western Australia is one of two possible hosts for the $3 billion international project, which will answer fundamental questions about the evolution of the universe. It will require a supercomputer comparable to the most powerful in the world to process the data it collects and will have huge economic and social spin offs for the host nation.
Australia is already building the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio-telescope, which will amass more information in the first six hours of operation than has been saved from all the world's radio-telescopes to date.
As part of its Super Science Initiative the Government will provide $80.0 million for the Australian National Centre of SKA Science in Perth.
The highly collaborative centre will manage the huge amount of data flowing from ASKAP and later the SKA, and will help to establish Australia as a world hub for high-performance computing.
Other measures include:
- $20.9 million for Australia to take sole responsibility for the Anglo-Australian Observatory, home of the world's top ranked four-metre optical telescope;
- $10.0 million to construct state-of-the-art instruments and data acquisition infrastructure to store, process and analyse information captured from different next-generation telescopes;
- $40.0 million for a new Australian Space Research Program to support space research, innovation and skills development in areas of national significance; and
- $8.6 million to establish a Space Policy Unit, which will provide whole-of-Government advice on space and industry development.
Investment in this important scientific infrastructure is part of the Government's $1.1 billion Super Science Initiative and will help to build a stronger higher education and innovation system for the 21st century.
Media contact: Catriona Jackson, Minister's Office, 0417 142 238