#Spacetech

Melbourne startup Gaia Project Australia has been recognised by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as a Phase Two winner of the prestigious Deep Space Food Challenge. Despite this astronomic accolade, Founder Nadun Hennayaka says his space tech could help solve global food challenges down on Earth.

We all want to innovate, but is that enough? What if the pace of innovation isn’t fast enough to save us from climate change or worse?

US space tech scaleup, Planet Labs’ fleet of approximately 200 mini satellites scan the Earth every day to provide daily high-resolution satellite imagery, and it’s arming landholders with the data to make more informed decisions. Farmer-owned co-operative, Organic Valley is reaping the rewards since teaming up with Planet Labs to develop a pasture mapping tool, that’s helped dairy farmers increase pasture utilisation by 20 per cent.

In this Food Futurists x evoke^AG. collab podcast Professor Andy Lowe speaks with Dr Moira Smith, Digital Content Analysis Technology (D-CAT) Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer. Andy and Moira explore D-CAT’s involvement with agriculture, the range of possibilities satellite sensor technology offers, such as weight management, optimising grazing cycles and yield predictions. And why integration and collaboration is the key in allowing farmers to better utilise this technology.

GRAVITY 03 has brought hundreds of space technology experts together to address 12 critical industry challenge areas, including across farming and sustainable supply-chains.

Agriculture is the next frontier for space tech, with billion-dollar opportunities to super-charge technology adoption for farmers, fishers and foresters over the next five to ten years.

Innovators, corporates and government are converging to realise the potential applications of space technology, including in agriculture, with global technology innovation program, GRAVITY Challenge 03 set to launch.