How Perth-based SpAARC played a key role in Odysseus moon landing

After a white-knuckle descent and a tense silence, the Odysseus spacecraft confirmed it successfully landed on the moon on Friday morning, and a Perth-based company played an important role in what NASA is calling a “triumph for humanity”.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private company to soft-land on the moon’s surface, when the Odysseus robotic lander touched down near the lunar south pole.

It also marked the first time an American vehicle had made such a landing since the NASA-crewed Apollo 17 lander in 1972.

Following the confirmation of the successful touchdown, NASA posted a video message from agency administrator Bill Nelson, who described the historic feat as “a giant leap forward for all of humanity”.

More than 400,000km from where Odysseus touched down near the near the Malapert A crater, workers at Fugro Australia’s Space Automation, AI and Robotics Control Complex in Perth celebrated too.

It’s a partnership Fugro and the Cook Government hope will pave the way for WA’s involvement in future space missions, such as NASA’s Artemis program.

Even a small slice of Artemis’ $141 billion pie would be a significant boost to the economy.

“We’ve been working for some time now to position WA as a global hub for the space industry, with the slogan ‘WA is the Place for space’, because of the significant potential for economic diversification and future job creation,” Mr Cook said.

“This may be one small step for the international space race, but it’s a giant leap for WA on the road to being internationally recognised as a global hub for space, science, technology and innovation.”

SpAARC director Samuel Forbes said IM’s successful lunar mission was an opportunity for WA to show its value to the burgeoning space industry.

“(It allowed) us to demonstrate and build our capability in providing mission operations as a service in support of complex and deep space missions including moon to Mars initiatives and the growing space economy,” Mr Forbes said.

Odysseus is carrying an array of NASA instruments and commercial payloads, including one from Columbia Sportswear designed to test the company’s Omni-Heat Infinity insulation material in deep space, and a set of sculptures by artist Jeff Koons.

WA is currently home to more than 130 Australian and international organisations providing space and space-related services, in addition to hosting significant space infrastructure for civil and defence applications.

The State Government invested $3.5 million to establish SpAARC, which opened in 2022, and has committed a further $5 million to grow its space mission operations capability.

Moon mania is also set to hit the WA Museum next month, with the launch of the To The Moon exhibition on March 26, featuring a large-scale artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram and an actual piece of lunar rock on loan from NASA.