The forum has grown from 80 attendees at the first forum in 2023 to around 300 in 2026, providing a platform for collaboration centred at the critical intersection of the space and cyber sectors.
This growth is a reflection of the increasing maturity, capability and momentum of our space cyber community here in South Australia, and our undisputed leadership both in space and cyber security.
Space systems have become integral to our everyday lives - navigation, communications, banking, weather forecasting, emergency response, national security - but as this reliance has grown, we have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats.
To tackle these common issues together, representatives from major organisations such as Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Optus joined leading universities and research organisations and innovative SMEs to hear from national and international experts on a range of topics, including:
- embedding security-by-design into next-generation satellite constellations, ground systems and networks
- using advanced simulation, AI and digital twins to test and strengthen space system resilience
- combining autonomous intelligent systems with human-centric decision-making to proactively detect and counter threats
- collaborating across governments, industries and international partners to secure space.
The Department of State Development was proud to sponsor the forum as a mark of the state's commitment to the state's leadership in these critical areas.
South Australia is home to key national organisations including the Australian Space Agency headquarters, the Australian Space Discovery Centre, and the Responsive Space Operations Centre at Lot Fourteen, Australia's first national mission control centre. We also have a thriving ecosystem of more than 100 space organisations, employing around 1,500 highly skilled people across industry, research and government.
Similarly, South Australia is also a hub for cyber innovation, with the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre building cyber capacity and security across Australia's digital landscape, while 50 South Australian companies specialise in cyber security, with 80 per cent headquartered here in the state.
