The Western Australian Government has announced the outcome of its early market engagement process for the Western Defence Forge. From 179 submissions, the joint AROSE and OQ Technology submission, made under the Australian Sovereign Space Systems Initiative (AS³I), is one of five prospective anchor tenants.
The Western Defence Forge seeks to strengthen Western Australia’s position as a nationally significant centre for advanced manufacturing and industrial innovation, create skilled jobs, and attract long-term private investment.
AS³I has a simple aim: to build satellites in Western Australia, for Australia and beyond. That means establishing satellite manufacturing, integration and test capability in the State, and exploring a sovereign 5G direct-to-device constellation built on locally controlled infrastructure and open global mobile standards.
AROSE’s role is the one we were founded for. We bring together industry, researchers and government around remote operations, and WA is home to the most demanding remote-operations users in the world. With support from the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, we have worked with OQ Technology through a structured discovery process with State agencies and government trading enterprises, testing where space-based connectivity can add real value across a State where terrestrial mobile networks reach only a small fraction of the landmass.
We have also mapped the Western Australian and national supply chain that a sovereign build would draw on and have identified where the gaps still are.
The next step is a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government, setting the framework for more detailed commercial and project discussions.
“Being named a prospective anchor tenant is a strong signal, and it is also a starting line. This opportunity began with the user, and with the many use cases we found across the State and the country. We see a tremendous opportunity for new low-cost connectivity options for remote regions, for building world-class manufacturing capability, and for creating demand for local and national supply chains. If we get this right, WA and Australia gain an industrial capability and a new foundational service that their own agencies, industries and the general public will use.
“Our thanks to Defence West and the Western Defence Forge team, to Premier Roger Cook and Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson for their leadership, and to Omar Qaise, Darren Shipard and the OQ Technology team for the partnership. There is a lot of work ahead, and we look forward to doing it with the State and with our members.”
Jason Crusan, AROSE CEO
Read the official media statement here.
