Australia has two multi-million dollar Airbus Arrow satellites in storage -Scott Morrison's AUKUS in space proposal can be activated immediately by putting the Arrows into service

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

                                                                              

Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who initiated AUKUS, has called for the alliance to expand its activities to include space.   AUKUS Pillar 2 -Advanced Capabilities includes a Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability programme which will “provide 24-hour continuous, all weather global coverage to detect, track and identify objects in deep space and increase space domain awareness.”

The first radar site will be in Western Australia and is planned to be operational in 2026, with two radar sites in the US and UK “in service by the end of the decade.” Grant Shapps, then Defence Secretary, identified Cawdor Barracks in South-West Wales as the preferred host site in the UK, subject to planning permission.

Meanwhile, the Labor Government has mothballed two Airbus Arrow satellites that have already been built and paid for. This writer has noted that   China's Tasman Sea adventures are a demonstration of why the two Airbus Arrow satellites mothballed by Ed Husic MP must be put into service.

The Pentagon has a fleet of Arrows and so Australian owned and operated watching over the South China Sea and surrounds will be more than complimentary to the Pentagon fleet.

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