The final day of the Conference was chaired by Mr Steve Morgan, representing KITComm.

First on the program was consultant, Dr James Stuart. His rapid-fire presentation entertained the audience, giving them an overview of the international space scene, covering many aspects of the satellite and communications markets, including GEO, MEO, LEO, Aerosat and ground systems and the pitfalls and possibilities for future commercial operations.

The next speaker was Mr Chris Deacon from Deacon Communications, discussing the Ellipso satellite system.
Ellipso is in fact two different satellite systems, utilising orbits which offer greater coverage of the Earth than current constellation systems, but with fewer satellites.

The Borealis and Concordia satellite constellations provide communications coverage over a wider area with orbits timed for peak traffic periods and tailored to population density. Due to be deployed from the year 2000, the full constellation of 17 satellites will be in place by the end of 2001, providing communications access rates at a lower cost per minute than the Iridium or Globalstar systems.

The final presentation of the morning session was given by Dr Wei Sun (left) from the Surrey Space Centre in the U.K.

Dr Wei Sun spoke on the 20 years of experience at Surrey of combining academic research and commercialisation of products in the nano/micro-satellite markets providing an opportunity for students and researchers to turn their work into practical applications.

Surrey has successfully launched 14 micro-satellites which have been used for a variety of purposes, and by a wide range of customers including military, earth observation, communications, meteorology, and disaster monitoring.

In the future, Surrey plans to develop further with modular nano and pico-satellite designs. They even have plans to develop a satellite to go to the Moon in the year 2001 utilising a purpose-built launch vehicle adapted from a Russian SS-18 ICBM.

The luncheon audience was treated to an enthusiastic presentation by NASA Associate Administrator for Policy and Plans, Mr Alan Ladwig (right).

Mr Ladwig had literally only flown in to the country that morning to attend the Conference, but was still able to deliver a speech which was fresh and full of vision for the future of human space exploration. He stated that NASA is successfully looking at the future through the new philosophy of ‘faster, better, cheaper’, but that what they need now from the U.S. government is stability for their budget.

With the beginning of construction for the International Space Station later this year, and the fostering of greater global participation in space endeavours, NASA sees its roles in the area of research and launches being given over to the commercial space sector, while they get on with the job of exploring the Universe through manned and robotic means.

"Having both Alan and Miriam here at the Conference demonstrates the solid links between the National Space Society and NASA," said Mr Ikin. "As the largest space advocacy group on Earth, it is in the Society’s interests to work with NASA. We can share our vision for the future and give direction to those goals."

The final session of the Conference looked at ‘Orbital Infrastructure and New Technology’.

Dr David Scott representing the Vanguard Space Corporation spoke on the development of an orbital rescue system for satellites. Citing the Westar and Palapa satellite rescues by the Space Shuttle in 1985, Dr Scott (left) outlined the concept for the recovery vehicle capable of docking remotely with a satellite and then transferring it into a useful orbit.

With an annual failure rate of nearly 4%, satellites worth up to US$100 million each can be rescued, reducing risk to astronauts, lowering insurance costs and lowering levels of orbital debris.

The final talks of the Conference were given by Dr Allen Ross of the MicroGravity Corporation and Miriam Baltuck from NASA.

Dr Ross gave his insights into the development of the commercial space market in the field of microgravity research, sighting the diverse range of possibilities that have as yet been untapped as future ventures.
The Microgravity Corporation acts as a facilitator to industry, universities and research institutions who require the use of the space environment.

Dr Ross went on to say that the future of space commercialisation will be one through which anyone can participate. It will be in the interests of the industrial and public sectors to learn as much about that environment as possible, and how best it can be used it to our advatnage.

He quoted Christa McAuliffe who said in 1985, "...space is for everybody. It’s not just for people in science or math or for a select group of astronauts. That’s our new frontier out there, and it’s everybody’s business to know about space."

The final speaker at the Conference was NASA Australian Rep., Miriam Baltuck. As an Earth observation specialist, her research showed that human space endeavours have so cluttered the LEO and GEO space that the chances of collisions with future space stations and space craft have been greatly increased. This situation will become increasingly important to rectify as we move into an era of space commercialisation.

"The space environment is as precious as any we have here on Earth. It is the right time in our history to think of space as part of the home that we inhabit." she said.

To close the Conference, ASDC Chairman Mr Kirby Ikin, thanked all those who helped to make this event such an enormous success. The guest speakers, sponsors, delegates, exhibitors and staff gave themselves a huge round of applause for a successful Conference.

"Australia is truly the space industry's new frontier," said Mr Ikin. "We are about to step off into the world beyond our horizon with a renewed optimism for the future. Your participation and support over the last three days has begun something that will benefit us all.".

Mr Ikin concluded by inviting everyone to return to Australia in the year 2000 for the 6th Australian Space Development Conference.