Key Points
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On 28 February 2018 Hicksons hosted OrbitOz for the first time, hosting Kirby Ikin as speaker
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Event focused on the 21st century rise of commercialisation, entrepreneurship and start-ups in the Australian space industry and beyond
On 28 February 2018, Hicksons had the pleasure of hosting OrbitOz’s monthly meetup.
OrbitOz is a Sydney-based meetup group started by Australian space industry entrepreneurs and students. Its main aims are to network people in the growing Australian space-sector, host speakers with interesting perspectives, and to attract and generate interest in space science and technology.
February’s OrbitOz meetup hosted Kirby Ikin as speaker. Kirby is the Managing Director of Asia Pacific Aerospace Consultants (APAC) which offers broad consulting services to the commercial space industry including market analysis, industry analysis, risk management and insurance advice. Currently he is also the Chairman of the Board of the U.S. based, worldwide National Space Society (NSS), having succeeded Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin in this position.
Kirby spoke about the 21st century rise of commercialisation, entrepreneurship and start-ups that are drastically altering the landscape of space in and outside of Australia. This included the lowering cost of access to space, Space 2.0, and how industry can adapt and embrace the changes occurring here in Australia and around the world.
‘Space 2.0’, otherwise referred to as ‘NewSpace’, is the word used to describe the recent space industry boom predominantly by private companies as opposed to the 20
th century domination of public agencies such as NASA. This shift has been made possible due to economies of scale in the greater hardware technology sector, making a large amount of space-capable technology accessible to be bought and used by entrepreneurs.
This has allowed existing companies and entrepreneurs to viably focus on quite ambitious goals. Just to name a few:
- SpaceX (Elon Musk) with the goal to put man on Mars and make humankind a multi-planetary species
- Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos) with the goal to start delivering science experiments, human habitats and other gear to the moon by mid-2020.
- Made in Space with the goal to introduce in-orbit manufacturing using 3-D printing technology
- Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources with goals to mine asteroids
- Rocket Lab and Gilmour Space with goals to remove barriers to entering space via small rocket technologies
- Fleet Space with the goal of using a constellation of small satellites to connect the world to the internet of things
- Spire Global and Orbital Insight with goals of providing mass amounts of detailed earth observation and analytics
- Arlula with the goal of setting up a marketplace to lease, buy and sell in-space assets
The event attracted over 50 space enthusiasts from all walks of life including professionals that have been in the industry for many years.
Hicksons advises on technology and space law, including insurance, commercial contracts and joint ventures, corporate governance and business consultancy.
Hicksons’ also advises start-ups in the technology sector, offering well-rounded expertise from a number of perspectives that are often overlooked in great making ideas into a commercial reality.
If you would like to receive an email notification next time Hicksons is hosting a space, technology or innovation-related event please contact us at
[email protected]
Post by Jack Guthrie and David Fischl