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the australian farmer
ally, it provides the ultimate closed loop system environment in which we’ll need to achieve sus- tainable food production. By developing these technological capabilities for space, we will one day be able to deploy high-value bioproduction systems anywhere on Earth. Some projects have already generated exciting agricultural use cases: We’re improving fertiliser formulations using flow chemistry, prototyping fully autonomous systems for controlled environ- ment agriculture (CEA), and developing sophis- ticated ‘digital twin’ modelling tools to track and manage vineyard health. These advances ultim- ately look to deliver even more space-informed solutions into the hands of Australian farmers. “When we do space well, we don’t just build rockets, robots, and satellites. We build opportunity across the full economy. We build our nation. We build our future.”
Seedlings in a vertical farm prototype at Adelaide University.
- Katherine Bennell-Pegg, during her 2026 Australian of the Year acceptance speech.
biotechnology, food science, and agricultural sus- tainability developments. As we enter a new era of space exploration, I believe some of the most exciting developments will come from our rei- maging of plant-based production systems, which will open many new opportunities for the future of Australian agriculture. Lemnaceae (a family of species more commonly known as duckweed) growing in vitro.
The success of the Artemis II lunar mission in April 2026 was a major global milestone, ushering in what will soon be known as the ‘Artemis gener- ation’. Through P4S’s established collaborations with NASA and strong pathways to contribute to Artemis-aligned missions, Australian scientists are contributing to lunar exploration efforts through the Artemis Lunar Surface Science Team (ALSST). When humans return to the moon in the near fu- ture, after an absence of over 50 years, they plan to grow plants on the lunar surface and bring them back to Earth for the first time. P4S and col- laborators will analyse these samples upon their return, with the missions’ outcomes serving as a vital precursor to developing robust lunar agricul- ture over the next two decades. Now more than ever, issues such as sustain- ability, food security, and climate resilience are of national urgency. These priorities should be reflected within the activities conducted by the research community; in particular, the work we do for space is feeding a new wave of on-planet
Professor Matthew Gilliham is Director, ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, Adelaide University.
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