Two South Australian startups have secured $100,000 each in funding from the inaugural South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund.

Safety from Space and AICRAFT landed the funds via the grants program developed to support the transition of space technology to operational use, with the projects selected because of their “clear commercial pathway”.

Safety from Space is developing a system that could help locate and rescue astronauts stranded in remote areas on the moon called Lunar Search and Rescue (LunaSAR).

The funds will accelerate its trial of advanced satellite communications capabilities called SATCOM – an Australian-first field trial of lunar distress beacons being developed in collaboration with NASA, The Mars Society, SmartSat CRC, UniSA and Flinders University.

The company hopes its trial will result in a lighter weight, longer battery life radio beacon, with greater reliability than current devices.

“Ensuring the safe return of astronauts in the event of an emergency is critical to interplanetary exploration, and we are passionate to see our breakthrough communications technology playing a pivotal role,” Safety from Space founder Mark Rice said.

“Our collaboration with NASA has put Australia at the forefront of two-way communications for search and rescue, and we are extremely grateful for the funding from the South Australian government to make it possible.”

Meanwhile, AICRAFT’s ‘Leoflect’ project has also received funding. The company hopes to develop a ‘Synthetic Aperture Radar’ (SAR) to create detailed images of the Earth’s surface.

AICRAFT will use AI models to deliver high-speed data processing and analysis in orbit, developed in partnership with India-based Guerin Technologies.

AICRAFT CEO Tony Scoleri said he was excited about the partnership with Guerin Technologies to “harness the innovation in both our companies and deliver on the most compact SAR antenna and most compact, low-power onboard computer on the market”.

“SAR data is critically important and can be used in applications such as agriculture, forestry, glacier monitoring, maritime surveillance and Defence intelligence,” Scoleri said.

“We are grateful to the South Australian Government for this funding support, which will make it possible for us to deliver world-class technology with rapid speed, bringing down the cost of, and access to, critically important SAR data.”

Defence and Space Industries Minister Stephen Mullighan said the grants would accelerate the development of advanced technologies and strengthen international partnerships.

“AICRAFT’s collaboration with Guerin Technologies and Safety from Sapce’s collaboration with NASA are prime examples of how our state is leading in space innovation and will have a significant impact on global space technology,” he said.

“South Australia is home to a long list of innovative projects that are driving economic benefits for our state and reinforce our position as a leader in the Defence and Space sectors.”