Presentation Details
Capricorn Space is an Australian owned and operated company that provides critical infrastructure in remote parts of Australia in support of satellite ground station capabilities and other services that demand high-availability power, diverse high-speed communications and on-site support as well as physical security and real-time remote monitoring and control. Capricorn Space only supports clients from Five Eyes and Five Eyes friendly nations.
Capricorn Space’s initial site near Mingenew in Western Australia supports multiple high-performance all-sky tracking antennas for communicating with satellites in Low Earth Orbit and beyond – these terminals operate in the Radio Frequency and Optical domains. Additional sites are planned for eastern and northern Australia and are due to become operational in 2025. Collectively these sites, when supporting Low Earth Orbit satellite services, provide coverage across the entire Australian continent whilst also achieving strategic reach into key areas of interest along Australia’s expansive northern coastal border.
The presentation will provide an overview of Capricorn Space’s capabilities and how Defence could utilise this unique asset set to complement multiple existing Defence capabilities, enhance Australia’s border protection services and accelerate Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) for both conceptual and emerging capabilities.
Biography
Mark was fortunate to commence his career in 1982 at AUSSAT, Australia’s National Satellite System and spent three years posted to the Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles where the three AUSSAT first generation satellites were designed, built and tested. In 1990 Mark relocated to the UK to work for INMARSAT, the International Mobile Satellite Organisation, where he worked on the INMARSAT-3 satellites before transitioning to ground services application development. Upon returning to Australia in 1999, Mark supported Defence with their Optus C1 Defence Hosted Payload, WGS (Wideband Global Satcom) program and the Defence Hosted UHF Payload onboard the Intelsat 22 satellite. Mark was also responsible for the communications payload on the NBN SkyMuster satellites.
In 2018 Mark established Capricorn Space will the goal of providing critical infrastructure to support NewSpace satellite services and other capabilities requiring high-availability infrastructure in remote parts of Australia.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Communications and a Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering. In 2016 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia, AM, for his contribution to advancing satellite services in Australia.