CSIRO invests $35m in future of space and AI for Australia

CSIRO has announced it is investing $35 million in frontier research in space technology and artificial intelligence. The investment will include the development of advanced imaging of Earth from satellites, in addition to cutting-edge data science to support the growth of AI technology. The investment is part of CSIRO’s Future Science Platforms (FSP) portfolio, aimed at dedicating research to new and emerging opportunities for Australia.

The aim is to help reinvent old industries and create new ones, as well as grow the capability of a new generation of researchers through specially created student places in these ‘future’ fields.

Space technology and AI join eight other areas of future science, including in the fields of health and energy. By 2022, the CSIRO Future Science Platforms program will have invested $205 million since it was launched in 2016.

Space technology will receive $16 million to identify and develop the science to leapfrog traditional technologies and find new areas for Australian industry to work in. It will initially focus on advanced technologies for Earth observation, and then address challenges such as space object tracking, resource utilisation in space, and developing manufacturing and life support systems for missions to the Moon and Mars.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will receive $19 million to target AI-driven solutions for areas including food security and quality, health and wellbeing, sustainable energy and resources, resilient and valuable environments, and Australian and regional security.

The primary research areas include platforms to improve prediction and understanding of complex data; platforms to enable trustworthy inferences and risk-based decisions; and data systems to enable ethical, robust and scalable AI.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said the CSIRO Future Science Platforms have an important role to play in inventing and securing Australia’s path to prosperity.

“Our Future Science Platforms aim to turn Australia’s challenges into opportunities where new science can break through seemingly impossible roadblocks to give Australia an unfair advantages on the world stage,” he said. “Innovation needs deep collaboration, so our FSPs bring together this nation’s world-class expertise across all fields of science, technology, engineering and maths to deliver real solutions to real-world problems.

“CSIRO is here to solve Australia’s greatest challenges through innovative science and technology — and to do that we have to invest in the big-thinking and breakthrough research that will keep us ahead of the curve.”

CSIRO’s investment in space technology builds on the launch of CSIRO’s Space Roadmap for Australia and supports the newly formed Australian Space Agency’s goal of tripling the size of the domestic space sector to $10–12 billion by 2030. It will also grow CSIRO’s 75 years of work in space and its role as a leading technology provider to the space sector.

The FSP combines the full depth and breadth of CSIRO’s research across all major Australian industries with deep technology expertise to create cutting-edge solutions while ensuring the ethical challenges are understood and protected.

A full list of CSIRO’s Future Science Platforms is available here.