Space doctors and lawyers needed in Australia

Established last year, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) is on a mission – to increase the number of space industry jobs from 10,000 to 30,000 by 2030. New jobs it will be creating include space doctors and space lawyers, according to the deputy head of the nation’s space agency.

Along with creating jobs, the agency is tasked with tripling the annual value of Australia’s space industry to US$8 billion by 2030. Most of the jobs required will be for engineers, technicians, researchers and physicists.

Space lawyers will be needed to consider issues such as how companies operate consistent with international treaties, and what frameworks are needed to deliver services in space. Australia already has space communicators, who have backgrounds in science journalism and marketing to outline the importance of space, and explain space activities in an engaging way for communities.

“With space technologies now becoming smaller and access to space becoming cheaper, space entrepreneurs can now look at space technologies in new ways and see if they can solve challenges,” says a spokesman for the ASA.

It has already secured deals with the European Space Agency to work together on future missions, and with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to launch rockets into space from Australia’s Northern Territory.