New space roles to mitigate cyber risk, promote secure satellite communications
Newly opened Defence space operations roles will seek to mitigate cyber risk and promote secure satellite communications, according to government leadership.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh confirmed the goals, following the announcement of direct-entry recruitment for two new roles, including space operations officers and space operations specialists.
The new roles are envisioned to grow the Australian Defence Force’s capabilities in space operations, a critical domain regarded as the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War.
“Certainly, they (new roles) mitigate against cyber risk. You know, so much communication is done via satellite, but also being aware of what else is going on in the space domain and being able to observe things that are going on in our near and far waters, off our coast, from satellites is also vitally important,” said Minister Keogh, speaking on ABC Perth radio on 9 February.
“As we look at the technological advancement we see in our aircraft, like our fighter jets, and in autonomous vehicles that we use in our Defence Force, we need to be able to secure the communication links and to operate those communication links, as well as being able to deliver vital information that satellites can secure to our forces in the field.
“We carry around smartphones, we do all of these things online in our daily lives. As you can imagine, that technology is incredibly important, then, in what our Defence Force does, and enabling that from space is also critically important.”
The space workforce will progressively be employed across the full spectrum of space mission sets, which include satellite communications, position, navigation and timing; space domain awareness; missile warning; satellite operations; space control; environmental monitoring; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
“We’re certainly going to be having a greater impact in the space domain, and we’re now going to be directly recruiting people into those space operation roles,” said Minister Keogh.
“We’re really proud to be able to launch direct recruitment into space operation roles like a space operations officer and a space operations specialist.
“People always think about, you know, land, air, and sea when they think about what our Australian Defence Force does. But space and cyber are just so important now, and so not just using our existing Defence Force personnel across those Navy, Army, Air Force, but being able to directly recruit, just like anyone goes to sign up to join our Defence Force.
“Of the 300 roles they can pick from now, two of those roles are directly in the space area; space operations. And that’s around satellite communication, it’s around intelligence and reconnaissance, it’s around environmental observation.
“It’s about making sure that we’re able to detect things like missiles and being able to observe and be aware of all the other things that are going in the space domain because that’s becoming an incredibly congested area of operation, and so it’s incredibly important in what we do and it supports the work that’s done by land, air, sea and cyber.”
Daniel Croft