Two commercial providers (Boeing Australia and Exo Analytics) are collaborating to offer the Australian Government a fully operational Space Domain Awareness system, which is ready to deploy immediately and operated by a local Australian team. This system supports the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in monitoring critical space assets, providing command and control, and data analytics.

Prerequisites:

• Clear needs and internal use cases

• Access to and capability to process SSA, STM, and Space Weather data, technologies, and applications data

• Lead agency & budget

• Procurement pathway

• Partner support as needed

Cost:

• Ballpark: USD 1–15M/yr (depending on volume, licensing, and type of data)

• Includes: subscription or licensing of SSA/STM data (e.g., orbital positions, conjunction warnings, debris tracking), access to space weather services (solar activity, geomagnetic storm predictions), integration of data feeds into national systems, secure IT infrastructure for data reception, training for analysts and operators, and participation in data-sharing networks

Timeframe:

• Overall: 6–18 mo (to establish access and begin operations)

• Phase: partner/provider selection & contracting (3–6 mo), IT and integration setup (3–6 mo), training and operationalisation (3–6 mo)

Pros:

• Improved Access to Information - Access to high quality tailored information and expertise rapidly

Considerations:

• Costly - Can become costly

• Dependency - Reliant on external providers