Australia is one of the world's most wealthy nations. Yet to the surprise and puzzlement of many observers, Australian governments over many years steadfastly refused to become involved in space activities in ways judged to be commensurate to the nation's wealth and place in the world. Repeated calls to establish a space agency were ignored or firmly rejected and civil and commercial investment in space activities was limited. In the past decade, there have been substantial developments and new investments in the policy, national security, civil and commercial domains. Perhaps the salient feature is the establishment of the Australian Space Agency in 2018. This article is a description and critical analysis of these developments. There are two key drivers to Australia's approach to space. The first is Australia's strategic geography, its location on Earth, its large size and small population most of whom live in a few large coastal cities. The second is national security, typically expressed though the nation's alliance relationships. These have been policy constants since the late 1940s and remain so today. This article demonstrates that recent developments, including the establishment of the space agency, are best understood as opportunistic outcomes and serendipitous results of a series of events several of which had little to do with space per se. Heralded by some as a new beginning, a closer analysis confirms the continuing importance of geography and national security as the two key drivers of Australia's approach to space.

澳大利亚是世界上最富裕的国家之一。然而，令许多观察家感到惊讶和困惑的是，多年来，澳大利亚政府一直坚决拒绝以被认为与国家财富和世界地位相称的方式参与太空活动。一再要求建立一个航天机构的呼吁被忽视或被坚决拒绝，并且对航天活动的民用和商业投资受到限制。在过去的十年中，在政策，国家安全，民用和商业领域有了长足的发展和新的投资。也许最明显的特征是澳大利亚航天局于2018年成立。本文是对这些事态发展的描述和批判性分析。澳大利亚采取太空方法有两个主要驱动力。首先是澳大利亚 的战略地理，其在地球上的位置，人口众多和人口稀少，其中大多数人生活在几个沿海大城市中。第二个是国家安全，通常通过国家的联盟关系来表达。自1940年代后期以来，这些都是政策常数，直到今天仍然如此。本文证明，最好的理解是包括一系列活动的机会性结果和偶然结果，其中包括与建立空间机构有关的最新进展，其中一些事件与空间无关本身。有人认为这是一个新的开端，进一步的分析证实了地理和国家安全作为澳大利亚空间方法的两个主要驱动因素的持续重要性。