Rhea Space Activity has launched an Australian subsidiary to support the trilateral security partnership AUKUS’ goal of developing an Australian variant of the Jervis Autonomy Module, which provides navigation without GPS.
According to RSA US Chief Operating Officer and RSA Australia Director Cameo Lance, JAM, initially intended for deep space missions, will be adopted for the deep ocean environment within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command theater. The autonomy module provides air, land, space and sea navigation support by capturing images of celestial objects and combining them with algorithms with deep space flight heritage.
Robert Fardi, global strategy adviser at RSA US, also touted JAM’s adaptability, providing a reliable tool for government or commercial settings.
“In Australia’s complex security landscape, any new system reliant on GPS must incorporate JAM,” he said. “Given the growing concerns over regional stability, we’ve experienced the severe consequences when GPS is disrupted or inaccessible.”
RSA Australia, led by Melanie Bushby, program director at the subsidiary, and Lance, is set to pitch the autonomy module to the Australian Strategic Capability Accelerator program on Wednesday.