The Royal Society of New South Wales joins with four Learned Academies of Australia for an annual Forum, held in Government House, Sydney, under the gracious Vice Regal Patronage of Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO, QC, Governor of New South Wales. This year, the Forum will be devoted to the challenges that await Australia and Australians in the study, exploration, and custodianship of Space.

The wonders of Space have always exercised the human imagination. Nowhere is this more so than in Australia, where richly embedded Aboriginal conceptions of the constellations and the cosmos continue to excite our imagination and to command our attention and respect.

Today, an increased understanding of Space has deepened our understanding of Earth and is transforming our lives. Just as global satellites have revolutionised communication, agriculture and mining, and enhanced the role of environmental and geo-political surveillance, so a generation of ‘space industries’ is beginning to emerge, encouraging private and public investment across a wide range of sectors.