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What started with a love of Star Trek and tinkering with electronics as a child eventually turned into a Masters project that saw UNSW Canberra graduate Craig Bates detect the change in orbit of a satellite 24 hours earlier than the US Space Force published the change.

After an extensive engineering career, Craig returned to study and will graduate with a Masters of Space Engineering on Friday.

As part of his Masters project, Craig developed a low-cost system to track the positions of satellites using a method called interferometry.

Using interferometry to track satellites is not new, but Craig was able to achieve it using inexpensive and accessible equipment. The system also has the advantage of working during the day and night, as opposed to telescopes which can struggle during the day.

“It turns out that by ‘listening' to the signals transmitted by a satellite via two or more antennas, you can measure tiny differences in the signal’s arrival time,” Craig explained.

“After a few calculations, these different measurements tell us a lot about a satellite's orbit and position in space.

“As space becomes more and more congested, this type of technology is growing in importance.

“Australia can play a special role in this monitoring work being located in the southern hemisphere.”

The US Space Force tracks the position of satellites, albeit with extremely sophisticated and expensive equipment, and publicly shares the information.

However, Craig’s system detected the same changes to one satellite’s orbit and his measurements were available 24 hours before the US Space Force published the change.

Craig’s passion for engineering was ignited when he was in primary school in South Africa and his father bought him an electronics kit.

“In high school I took computer programming as an extra subject and a friend of mine and I learned how the internet worked at a fundamental level, building our own Linux systems, and we even visited the country's main Internet Service Provider back in 1996,” Craig recalls.

Craig moved to New Zealand as a teenager and went on to complete Bachelor degrees in both Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. He has had an accomplished and varied career in engineering, including working to restore communications within the electrical grid following the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake.

Since moving to Australia, he has worked in environmental monitoring and developing flood warning systems.

However, deep down his passion has always been in the skies above.

“I’ve had an interest in space since watching Star Trek as a youngster,” Craig said.

“I was fascinated by the Sojourner rover on Mars and watching the astronauts build the International Space Station.

“For most of my life it seemed that anything space related was only achievable by the global superpowers and not really a viable career path on this side of the world.

“This all changed with “new space”, pioneered by the likes of SpaceX, Planet Lab and Rocket Lab. A career in space is now possible, with various space companies doing interesting things here in Australia.”

After a trip to the US in 2019, seeing SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and the Space Shuttle Endeavour up close, Craig was inspired to search for part-time study options. He was attracted by the flexible nature and ability to study remotely offered by the UNSW Canberra Masters program.

“The fact UNSW Space had actually built real satellites was also appealing,” Craig said.

“Now that I’ve finished my degree, I definitely want to pursue a career in space. Ultimately, I’d love to work on a communications system to Mars!”

Craig said completing a Masters in his 40s was an excellent way to get up to speed with new developments that weren’t available during his undergraduate study, concepts like Artificial Intelligence.

He also offered sound advice for anyone considering further education:

“If doing study remotely, I think it’s a good idea to visit the university if you can, meet the staff, meet other students.”

“I’d also recommend working consistently; I did my best when I consistently got up early and did study before work. A little bit every day. Maintaining balance was difficult, I didn’t always achieve it, but taking a day off every week was important, don’t plan to do anything and instead catch up with friends, enjoy nature etc.”