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Flying over the Arctic, SpIRIT captured this image of a snowy white wonderland below. SpIRIT’s high inclination orbit gives the satellite a prime view of the Antarctic and Arctic polar ice caps that can be captured and processed by the imaging system we have developed. These regions of low contrast provide a nice challenge for the classification algorithms running on …

Have you ever wondered why the surface of the Moon glows a vibrant red colour during a lunar eclipse? It may be reminiscent of the colour of a sunset - and that’s because they arise from the same phenomena. A lunar eclipse is the collective sunrises and sunsets from around the entire world, projected onto the Moon’s surface, when positioned …

We are thrilled to celebrate the successful commissioning of SpIRIT with a set of selfies from space. Fig 1: SpIRIT "selfie" acquired following deployment of the thermal radiators and camera arm on 14 July 2025 over New Zealand/Tasman Sea. The underside of the satellite is in the field of view. https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/september/selfies-from-space-aussie-nanosatellite-completes-first-phase-of-mission

SpIRIT has been in orbit for 650+ days, and recently we reached its final flight configuration with the thermal radiators wide open. Everything is looking great on the satellite with its (thermal) wings open. The HERMES gamma/x-ray telescope is quite close to its optimal temperature range thanks to passive cooling only, and our Stirling cycle cryocooler is operating nominally both …

It seems that every day, the barrier for access to space keeps lowering. In recent years, space technology has improved so much, that we are often swamped by images from orbit. Photos of Earth have become so commonplace, that we can lose our sense of awe and wonder. We’ve come a very long way from the first Blue Marble image, …

Today we mark 619 days of SpIRIT operations in orbit. To celebrate science week and the ongoing achievements of Australia's first space telescope, we are delighted to share some words from the Australian Academy of Science Astronomy Decadal Plan 2026-2035 that features SpIRIT and one of the images we captured with its cameras as an example of how science can …

SpIRIT has been operating in good health for more than 14 months in orbit, continuing to acquire data to achieve its mission objectives. In one of our Earth observations, we imaged Eastern Australia capturing the Siding Spring Observatory in NSW, the home of the 3.9m AAT telescope. From the smallest and farthest in space Australian optical telescope to the largest on …

This stunning image from the SpIRIT Loris camera captures Earth, the Moon and a reflection of the satellite itself in a single shot. The image was acquired on August 23rd 2024 while SpIRIT was over the Indian ocean. Our team was aiming at visual verification of the successful deployment command to extend the camera arm out of the spacecraft chassis, …

We are very pleased to share another important SpIRIT mission milestone. The electric thruster on board, developed and manufactured by our partner Neumann Space, has been operated successfully in orbit. You can read more about the achievement in this media release. Figure 1: Flight Model of the Neumann Drive on board the SpIRIT satellite. Image credits: Neumann Space. All SpIRIT payloads …

We’re thrilled to unveil an image of Uluru captured by the SpIRIT nanosatellite, which we think is the first time that this iconic and culturally significant landmark has been seen from space with a made-in-Australia satellite and imaging system. This extraordinary view was made possible by the University of Melbourne Loris payload aboard the SpIRIT satellite, which hosts infrared and visible …

Congratulations to Dr. Miguel Ortiz and the whole Loris team for the Best paper award (honourable mention) at the international AI4Space 2024 workshop. The paper presents a design overview of the system and strategies for mitigating impact of the space environment. To celebrate the achievement we are releasing a Loris image of central Australia, one of the first images of …

SpIRIT's Payload Management System (PMS) - the satellite instrument control unit - has been successfully operated for a near-continuous six hour period during the weekend geomagnetic storm as part of the subsystem verification and performance testing activities. PMS experienced a single anomaly about three hours into the test, which was automatically recovered by the on-board watchdog through a system reboot. Operations …

The University of Melbourne, the Italian Space Agency, Australian Space Agency and the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics have announced the successful scientific operations of the HERMES Pathfinder space telescope instrument on board the SpIRIT satellite. We are thrilled about this result and we are looking forward to the discovery and study of Gamma Ray Bursts from SpIRIT operations in …

Commissioning activities on SpIRIT are progressing positively, with all University of Melbourne systems staying healthy after more than 135 days in space. Today, we are very pleased to share that a scientific paper on the Loris camera and Artificial Intelligence system has been accepted for publication and presentation at the AI4Space Workshop at the 2024 Conference on Computer Vision and …

The SpIRIT team resumed payload commissioning activities at full capacity after a brief recharging break, and we are very pleased to report that a significant milestone has been achieved for the satellite Thermal Management Integrated System (TheMIS). TheMIS passed all detailed functional tests and now we can report in-orbit demonstration of the Stirling cycle cryocooler. The plot below shows temperatures …

Another important milestone for the Melbourne Space Laboratory has been achieved during SpIRIT commissioning with a successful initial verification of TheMIS. The TheMIS ICU passed functional testing and TheMIS was used to record temperatures across the payload suite. This is providing valuable feedback to execute the next steps in our payload commissioning activities. It also marks a fantastic achievement for …

Incredible to realize that SpIRIT has been in orbit for almost two weeks. We are pleased to announce that payload commissioning activities are progressing ahead of schedule. The University of Melbourne Instrument Control Unit (PMS), multi-camera and AI subsystem (Loris), and the low-latency communication subsystem (Mercury), as well as the Italian Space Agency gamma/x-ray detector HERMES have all shown nominal …

We are excited to announce SpIRIT is in orbit! https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/december/lift-off!-spirit-nanosatellite-launches-aboard-spacex-rocket SpIRIT Launch Media Release

SpIRIT was launched from Vandenberg Space Base in California at 18:19 December 1st UTC 2023, and successfully deployed into its orbit an hour and twenty two minutes later!!

All tests are nominal and SpIRIT is ready for launch! SpIRIT, the first Australian Space Agency funded satellite, has been fully tested and has left Melbourne for the Netherlands on the first step in its journey to space. In the Netherlands, SpIRIT was inserted into its dispenser pod and is ready for the next hop to California where it will …

Render image of the SpIRIT nanosatellite in orbit with solar arrays and radiators deployed. Image: Melbourne Space Laboratory The SpIRIT spacecraft, the first selected for funding by the Australia Space Agency, has been booked with launch service provider ISISPACE to blast off on the Falcon 9 Transporter 8 rocket in April 2023. The spacecraft is being designed and built by a consortium …

A first opportunity for paid student internships (during the summer 2021) is available through the School of Physics (deadline for applications: 5th November 2020; limited to currently enrolled University of Melbourne students). This internship will give the opportunity to join the SpIRIT mission team, led out of the School of Physics at UoM, and to gain direct experience on design and …

The SpIRIT (Space Industry – Responsive – Intelligent – Thermal Nanosatellite) mission aims to grow Australian space industry capabilities through the development of an innovative nanosatellite. What Is SpIRIT? To be launched into space by 2022, SpIRIT will break new ground in high-performance autonomous operations, communications, propulsion and thermal management, and be the first Australian-made spacecraft to host a foreign space agency …