1 That year the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce gave a A$500,000 grant to the Australian National University to fund the development of an existing ultraviolet spectroscopy telescope project.

In the mid eighties the Hughes Aircraft Company was awarded a contract to build a new generation of AUSSAT communications satellites.

52 In 1988, the ASB created the SCWP to provide specialist advice on the future development of a commercial satellite communications industry.

[23] The LMSS Office was formed by recommendation of the SCWP to assist Australian industry to better understand the nature of commercial opportunities with L-Band mobile satellite systems.

[23] The office was established in November 1989,[10]: p. 55  and with the entry of Telecom as a partner of AUSSAT it was seen as a guarantee that LMSS would be commercially viable.

The program aimed to convince private industry to divert R&D resources into space related ventures in collaboration with University research centres.

57  The government hoped the initiative would create Australian products and services capable of competing in international markets.

Both spaceport projects were primarily considered because of the geographic advantages of launching space craft inside Australia, however commercial viability was uncertain.[10]: p.

[10]: Table 4.2 The remote sensing developments funded under the program were vital to a range of public goods and services including meteorology, resource management, mapping, and research conducted by the CSIRO.

The mining industry was the largest user of remote sensing techniques, making up half of the entire market capital.

Receiving over A$10 million in funding over the lifetime of the program,[13]: p. 10  the satellite telescope was built primarily to test the Australian developed low light detector array.

10 The Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) was a joint venture between Auspace and British Aerospace Australia to build and use remote sensing equipment for use on the European ERS-2 spacecraft in 1995.

[27] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.