Ground support from the University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania’s (UTas) Southern Skies Network just got larger with the unveiling of a new 7.3-metre communications antenna at Bisdee Tier. Skykraft will be one of the first customers to benefit from the new antenna after signing an agreement with the University of Tasmania Space Research to provide ground support to Skykraft's Air Traffic Management constellation.

Professor Simon Ellingsen, Dean of School of Natural Sciences, said the new 7.3-metre antenna 70 kilometres north of Hobart at the University of Tasmania’s Greenhill Observatory would provide space-to-Earth communications for low Earth orbit satellites.

“This is now the southernmost antenna of its kind in the world, adding to our Southern Skies Network,” Professor Ellingsen said.

“In the past, we have only been able to listen to transmissions from spacecraft but now we are able to transmit messages through radio frequency communications to spacecraft, sending commands as well as receiving data.”

The University of Tasmania's unique southern position coupled with its clear skies are ideal to move data to and from our polar-orbiting satellites.

Pictured: Skykraft's Joe Andrews and UTas Professor Simon Ellingsen at the Bisdee Tier unveiling.

More information

Read more about the Bisdee Tier opening.