$223 million satellite station to enhance Australia’s border protection

Birds sit on top of a satellite dish as heavy fog envelops the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida Reuters/Scott Audette

A high-tech $223 million satellite station is set to boost border protection operations to stop people smugglers sending boats to Australia. The new facility will be built in New South Wales.

The station will work alongside a similar facility in Western Australia to give the country’s defence force a clearer picture of what’s happening on the high seas. It will also provide satellite imagery to guide maritime patrols in the South China Sea.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has revealed the new facility will be completed in four years. “The satellite ground station will enable deployed forces across the Pacific and Indian Ocean region to connect to Defence’s strategic information networks back in Australia,” Herald Sun quotes him as saying. He added that the project would not only help border protection patrols but also assist with disasters in the region. Its contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman Australia and includes a new satellite network management system.

Pyne said the system would allow reduced operational response times for the establishment and restoration of satellite communications services. The satellite station will be constructed close to existing defence barracks in Kapooka in Wagga Wagga.

The facility, Pyne said, will be serviced by few maintenance personnel. It will be operated remotely.

The project is expected to be done by 2021. But first, it has to receive approval from the parliamentary works committee.

Australia’s defence force

The Turnbull government recently announced $300 million worth of equipment to protect Australian soldiers against chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons through suits, masks, detectors, decontamination systems and protection tents. Troops are also having access to warning software for overseas war zones.

Furthermore, the government has secured a $50 million research fund to probe how drones, robots and automated vehicles can help soldiers fight. The Defence Cooperative Research Centre will investigate various technologies, which include long-range drones for ocean surveillance as well as driverless vehicles to evacuate casualties and bring supplies to the battlefield.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull previously called on all countries to implement UN Security Council Resolutions against North Korea. Australia has agreed to expanded autonomous sanctions against North Korea in response to its threatening behaviour, with Turnbull saying Australia supported defensive measures “required to respond to the threat posed by North Korean offensive missiles.” Turnbull added, “Any escalation of regional tensions is entirely the responsibility of the North Korean regime, which continues to brazenly threaten regional and global peace."

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