14 July 2025 – An Optus led consortium made up of the iLAuNCH Trailblazer, HEO, Inovor Technologies and the Australian Department of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) has today announced it will commence the build, launch and operation of a sovereign Australian Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite. This collaboration marks a significant step forward for Australia’s capabilities in space-based connectivity and critical space domain awareness. The consortium, which is targeting a spacecraft launch date of early 2028, will host two pieces of equipment developed under the Australian Government’s iLAuNCH Trailblazer Universities Program, sponsored by the Federal Department of Education. The LEO satellite will be built by Inovor Technologies at Lot14, in Adelaide, South Australia and Optus intends to operate the spacecraft from its Belrose Space Operations Centre in Sydney. Read more