The 5th Australian Space Development Conference (ASDC) opened today with a positive view of the future of the Australian space industry through the opening remarks of Conference Chairman, and Chairman of the National Space Society of Australia Ltd, Mr Kirby Ikin (pictured).

Mr Ikin welcomed over 180 Australian and international delegates to Sydney and to the fifth in this series of conferences organised and hosted by the National Space Society of Australia (NSSA).

"The future for the domestic and international space industries is in the arena of commercialisation," said Mr Ikin, "Over the next three days of the conference we will hear from leaders of the space community who are on the cutting edge of this development."

Kirby Ikin was joined on the podium by Mr David Kwon, Director of the Asia Pacific Space Centre (APSC). The company is in the process of developing a commercial launch facility on Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean, 300kms south of the Indonesian island of Java.

Progress on the project has been kept under tight wraps by APSC while negotiations have been taking place with the Russian launch vehicle providers. Mr Kwon confirmed that the Soyuz rocket is APSC's vehicle of choice and went on to say how favourable the conditions were for the development of their launch site on Christmas Island.

Mr Kwon's talk was supported by a wealth of viewgraphs that, while still not giving too much detail away, certainly demonstrated that the project is still moving ahead.

APSC expects to be able to make their first launch by late 2000 or early 2001.

The final address of the morning session was given by Mr Jeffery Candiloro (right) and Mr Jonathan Ingles, both engineering students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Representing the University Chapter of the NSSA, they presented the audience with their unique vision and enthusiastic approach to being a part of the space industry - by building their own satellite.

To be called BLUEsat (Basic LEO UNSW Experiment Satellite), will be a collaborative project by engineering students at UNSW and various departments who will lend technology and expertise.

Boldly stating that they expect to get their nano-sat off the ground before the Australian FEDSat project, the students are being spurred forward by feedback which has told them that they can't achieve such a goal.

"Being told we can't do it, only makes us more determined that we will succeed," Jeffery said. "We will use our project to challenge and inspire other students from universities around Australia to do what we are attempting."

Jeffery and Jonathan contend that by having more than one satellite project under-way that the chances of at least one of them getting 'off the ground' is greatly improved. The UNSW group will share their research, ideas and successes with other similar projects but are determined to be first.

The Department of Industry Science & Tourism was one of the many exhibitors on display at the ASDC. (pictured)

The exhibition area also doubled as the ASDC's coffee break and cocktail function area and offered an excellent opportunity for conference delegates to discuss and question the speakers and other company representatives.

Other exhibitors included: Arianespace, SpaceLink, Asia-Pacific Aerospace Consultants, Auspace, ASRI, the NSSA and Internet space news provider Spacer.com.

The audience heard from the Federal Minister for Industry Science and Tourism, Hon. Mr John Moore M.P. (pictured)

Minister Moore spoke on the position of his Government and their support for the development of a commercially viable launch industry in Australia. His presentation included a brief video which outlined the many diverse projects that Australia is a part of both at the national and international levels.

The Government has actively supported the development of Kistler Aerospace's Woomera launch facility in South Australia. By putting in place legislation like the Space Activities Act to be enacted later this year, the Australian Government hopes to attract even more international commercial launch projects to a country which sees itself as "a great to place for Space".

The featured talk of the afternoon was from Mr Robert Wang (pictured), Director of Kistler Aerospace. Their Woomera space centre project is the most developed of the various commercial launch programs.

A special groundbreaking ceremony held on July 23, was the first step in the creation of Kistler's first spaceport which, following a series of full-scale test launches, expects to begin commercial operations by the second quarter of 1999.

The conference also heard from speakers discussing various aspects of the 'Current Launch Market', 'Commercial Remote Sensing', as well as commercial and private/research 'Australian Launch Projects'.