Saber Astronautics has created a user-friendly software link between satellites and mission control centres to help emerging space enterprises earn revenue faster.
- Saber operates the Adelaide-based Responsive Space Operations Centre (RSOC), Australia’s first national mission control centre. It is one of 7 projects supported by the Australian Space Agency’s Space Infrastructure Fund.
- The company is helping new space enterprises get off the ground with an innovative software design, Open Galactic, which provides a user-friendly link between satellites and mission control centres.
- The project is supported by the $788,000 Expand Capability Grant.
- Saber CEO Dr Jason Held says Open Galactic speeds up the spaceflight process for new space companies, allowing them to start earning revenue faster.
‘It’s a lot of hard work to connect a satellite to a mission control centre. Open Galactic eases the burden by providing a baseline framework of middleware software to get people started.’
- The software is designed to be affordable, with some elements offered for free. It’s open-source, meaning companies can customise and adapt the code to suit their needs. It also allows users to mix products from different suppliers to support their missions
’We are trying to do the opposite of vendor lock-in; we want people to share information, and give us a chance to grow together,’ Jason says.
Open Galactic is making space more accessible with simplified processes. This has the potential to inspire more satellite enterprises and more revenue in Australia’s growing space market.
Project Status
Completed
Project outcomes and benefits
- Saber is deploying Open Galactic on a string of missions in the near term, including TOLIMAN, a space telescope mission with linkages to multiple international space agencies and research organisations. The TOLIMAN mission is planned for 2023.
- Open Galactic will support TOLIMAN’s pre-flight integration and testing, plus a year of on-orbit operations while the spacecraft scouts for planets around Alpha Centauri.
Connection to the Agency's strategic framework
This project supports the Australian Space Agency’s objectives of:
- Opening doors internationally
- Increasing national capability
- Communications technologies and services
Key Facts
- An early version focused on ground station control code was published in March 2022.
