Winner - Australian Space Awards 2026 - Innovator of the Year

We are proud to announce winning of the prestigious Innovator of the Year title at the Australian Space Awards 2026

Our journey started from a humble beginning as a bold and innovative concept of taking astronomy to the communities with the use of a mobile astronomical observatory on June 18, 2016. Southern Cross Outreach Observatory Project (SCOOP) was built around our experience of public outreach astronomy with our Karachi Space Observatory (former Kastrodome) completed three years prior in 2013.

SCOOP travelled huge distances taking passion of astronomy to the remotest communities in Australia. Active between 2016 and 2023, SCOOP travelled to distant communities in SA, NSW and VIC and conducted public astronomy outreach as part of National Science Week as well as independent events. The purpose was to provide an experimental platform to test and use a mobile astronomical observations platform and push the possibilities to the limits. And it worked better than expected.

https://youtu.be/jSvZb7TZmUE?si=9Zm6vX4Cn8A-qzFK

Ability to conduct astronomical observations in the Australian Outback meant access to the most pristine and clearest skies in the world. This led us to consider using the concept of a mobile observatory for something more than public outreach astronomy.

We carved out a concept of harnessing the pristine, dark and stable skies of the vast expanses of the Australian outback to detect and triangulate on 1-10 cm debris in the Low Earth Orbit using multiple synchronized deployed observatories. This could generate a very high-precision data of their orbits in order to enhance our situational awareness of this class of very lethal debris, and also enable future Active Debris Removal of the same. The idea of Trace, Track and Tackle sequence was born, which we later patented through the USPTO.

In 2024, we successfully conducted the first prototype detection and characterization of near-10 cm objects in LEO using a rudimentary form of the TTT protocol.

On June 18, 2026...exactly 10 years after its inception...SCOOP won the most prestigious Innovator of the Year Award at the Australian Space Awards 2026 for its innovation in Space Situational Awareness. This title will go a long way in our current efforts in developing the first set of two synchronized observatories in South Australia for pilot detection and tracking of known RSOs (satellites and rocket bodies in orbit) to train the AI algorithms designed to trace and track 1-10cm LEO debris through upscaled equipment.

The observatory is currently in a state of disuse and parked in storage. With the completion of the Lot 2 site in Port Augusta, the observatory will get a new life closer to home in the Australian outback and be ready for the road to reach out to the distant communities for public outreach astronomy, and much more.

#AustralianSpaceAwards2026 #SouthernCrossOutbackObservatoriesProject #SpaceSituationalAwareness #SpaceDebris

June 18, 2016 - SCOOP, Australia's first mobile astronomical observatory rolls out of the driveway to hit the road for the first time.

April 2023 - Public Outreach Astronomy in Andamooka, SA. Picture courtesy Adam Green

Test detection and characterization of Resident Space Objects (RSOs) including known satellites, rocket bodies, and uncatalogued small to large debris in LEO.

Apr 2025 - The US patent for our Trace, Track, and Tackle Sequence - an incremental detection refinement protocol for 1-10 cm LEO debris detection and mitigation.

June 18. 2026 - The crystal trophy, a token of recognition of our innovation in space debris detection.

Innovator of the Year Award 2026 (SCOOP) alongside the Innovator of the Year Award 2025 (Mareekh Dynamics).

The proud moment for the founder and CEO Dr M. Akbar Hussain and the entire SCOOP team

SCOOP currently in storage in Adelaide. With the completion of our facility at Lot 2, Port Augusta, SCOOP will find a new venue for public outreach closer to the outback.