Enrico Palermo
Head of the Australian Space Agency
Providing Accessible STEM Workforce Preparation to Accelerate Your Future
The Milo Mission Academy for Lunar Exploration is sponsored by AROSE for college and university & early career participants from Australia and New Zealand. It is a 12-week STEM workforce development program that is offered virtually to allow geographically diverse students the opportunity to fully participate, no matter their location.
The academy is designed to provide participants a hands-on, deep-dive understanding of the space mission life cycle. This team-based experience will help participants gain knowledge about the needs of the space sector, along with learning the practices, protocols, and procedures it takes to be operational within a space environment. The skills gained through this academy are foundational workforce skills that will be transferable across many Earth-based sectors as well including Energy, Resources, Defence, Comms/Tech, Adv Manufacturing.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg
Australian Astronaut Candidate
Program Heritage
The Milo Mission Academy is modeled after the highly successful NASA-sponsored L'SPACE Program and leverages a successful, award-winning heritage that has empowered thousands of STEM students attending US colleges and universities to learn industry-standard processes, protocols, and procedures while working on interdisciplinary space-focused team projects. Through this immersive academy training experience, the participants have enhanced their career opportunities to now include both Earth-based and space-based jobs.
In partnership with AROSE, the Milo Mission Academy now brings this amazing opportunity to Australian and New Zealand’s TAFE and university students, enabling their career pathways in the exciting expanding space economy!
David Thomas
Milo Space Science Institute
Executive Director
Learn Effective Technical Workforce Teaming Practices
In today’s workforce, being able to work within a multidisciplinary team to optimise a project is a trait that many employers seek in their new hires. The Milo Mission Academy uses the context of space exploration for their projects, as it represents formidable challenges with many unknowns. The ability of being operable in the harsh environment of space takes a lot of innovation and planning, and teamwork to be successful. Participants will gain valuable practice in teaming as they work through their unique projects staying aligned to requirements, risks, schedule, and budget.
"Having watched for several years now (and in a small way, assisted) the unfolding journey and offering to the world that is the MILO Institute for Space Science, I am seriously excited about this new opportunity for growing Australia's and New Zealand's future deep technology talent pool. MILO's Mission Academy is a proven, world class hands-on pathway to help university students unlock doorways into the aerospace sector. In fact, it's as good as it gets, anywhere! The teaming between MILO and AROSE to bring the Academy down under is a wonderful step by two like-minded organisations. If you're serious about pursuing a career in space, advanced manufacturing, communications, resources, artificial intelligence, energy or other deep technology sectors (the list is long, because space touches all sectors) I encourage you to think very seriously about enrolling."
-Professor Russell Boyce
MILO Ambassador to Australia
Student Testimonial
Grateful for the Academy for providing me with the opportunity to enhance my mission writing style and learn every advanced skill within the mission planning process this Summer! This program has also taught me the importance of being a team player while leading my team. Together, we successfully completed our Preliminary Design Review as a unit.
Yasmeen Shah
Georgia State University
This 12-week experience is designed to provide unique, hands-on learning and insight into the dynamic world of the space industry.
Program Design
Teams will design payloads that will be delivered to the destination (lunar surface) by a space infrastructure service provider. The volume, mass, and power available to the payload will be defined by the transport vehicle and available features and systems (e.g., cameras, mobility, robotic arms, etc.) will be provided to the teams. The team's concept of operations (CONOPS) will begin upon arrival at the destination. Teams will have to be mindful of the environment in which the spacecraft and instruments will need to operate (e.g., temperatures, radiation, regolith that could cause problems with instrumentation, etc.). All mission infrastructure, including power, communications, and mobility, will be provided by the infrastructure service provider allowing teams to focus on designing the payload.
Final Deliverables:
Design Review Technical Document
Mission Concept Presentation
Mission Academy topics are presented by subject matter experts and provide relevant information for teams in a systematic progression. The following schedule is provided as an example and can be customized to meet stakeholder objectives.
Welcome and Academy Overview
Effective Teaming Practices
Mission Destination and Space Environment
Science Goals and Science Traceability Matrix
Lunar Mission-planning and Analysis Tool (JMOON)
Experiment and Mission Design
Mission Requirements
Science Instrumentation
Concept of Operations and Data Management
Project and Risk Management
Technical Presentation Best Practices
Team Presentations
Session Topics
Student Testimonial
This experience has been both challenging and enriching, providing me with a deeper understanding of space science and technology. I am very grateful to the dedicated professionals at NASA for sharing their knowledge and insights which helped hone my abilities during this semester. As a Project Manager, I was able to lead our team in the development of a mock-mission with a budget cap of $300 million, aiming to design a rover equipped with scientific tools to be sent out to Ceres to gather geological data on the dwarf planet. My team and I were then tasked with developing and presenting a 180 page Preliminary Design Review for a standing review board.
William Hanson
Arizona State University
Requirements for Participation
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Must be an Australian and New Zealand TAFE, University Student, or Early Career Professional (no more than 10 years post graduation);
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Participants must be at least 18 years of age or older;
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Participants must have access to a computer or tablet with access to the Zoom platform;
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Participants must have a passion for learning and eagerness to push themselves beyond current capabilities;
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Participants must be able to devote 5-10 hours per week towards team projects; and
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Participants must be able to attend all LIVE sessions conducted on Thursdays from 9:00 - 10:30 AM (AWST) beginning on 21st March 2024.
Cost to participate: AU$ 550
Program Timeline
Student Testimonial
This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in one of my most challenging yet rewarding experiences. After dedicating four months to the Academy, I'm thrilled to announce that I've successfully earned my Certificate of Completion! During this program, I had the privilege of receiving all seven attainable skill badges. These badges have provided me with a wide range of abilities necessary for my professional career, ranging from trade studies to leadership, teamwork, and system engineering techniques, CAD and more.
Nathnael Minuta
Minnesota State University
Earn Skill Badges
Get Industry Certified
We proudly partner with Siemens to offer specialized training in the high-end CAD/CAM/CAE software, Siemens NX, as well as the opportunity to earn an industry certification!