Black Sky rebrands and boosts sovereign defence industry capability

Brisbane-based Black Sky Aerospace has rebranded as a defence and technology company, Black Sky Industries. It aims to greatly accelerate the production capability of sovereign scaled rocket motor and defence systems.

The company is Australia’s only sovereign developer and supplier of solid rocket propellant and solid rocket motors to the defence sector. It has established a new headquarters in Logan, in South East Queensland, as well as launch, test and manufacturing facilities throughout Western Queensland.

Black Sky Industries was founded by aerospace, defence and manufacturing industry veterans Blake Nikolic and Karl Hemphill, and Dr Vu Tran, who co-founded $3 billion-plus technology startup Go1.

“At Black Sky, complex rocket manufacturing is done with a high degree of innovation, security and safety but at much lower cost than others,” said Blake Nikolic. “This has the potential to save Australia and our allies billions of dollars and ensure taxpayer funds can be utilised in other areas.

“We innovate, move quickly, and deliver results,” he added. “Like traditional technology and software companies, we have a strong focus on product velocity, a concept we think will be essential in future defence technology development.”

The company aims to create hundreds of advanced manufacturing and defence industry jobs over the next decade. Recent key hires at the company include former L3Harris Technologies director David Johnson as general manager, enterprise development and former RAN innovation veteran Stephen Delo.

Black Sky is reimagining how rockets are designed, developed and manufactured at scale, the company says. As a local producer of ammonium perchlorate (AP) – crucial to conventional solid rocket motors used in aerospace and defence industries – Black Sky produces solid rocket propellant and motors, and offers its homegrown, proprietary Wagtail Rocket Assisted Take-Off (RATO) technology for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and drones.

Cortex1, Black Sky’s proprietary software platform, underpins all aspects of its operations, the company adds, from research and development and manufacturing, including launch control, tracking and mapping through data-driven propellant formulation and characterisation technology using artificial intelligence.

Black Sky’s rapid-fire pace to innovate is aligned with the federal government’s 2024 National Defence Strategy to better integrate existing and emerging technologies and to deliver defence effectiveness in the coming decade.

Dr Tran said Black Sky will help secure and strengthen local defence supply chains and reduce Australia’s dependence on external jurisdictions.

“Australia spends $50-$55 billion on defence each year yet we’re lucky to have just one company in the top 100 list of defence suppliers,” he added. “Black Sky aims to change that.

“Having sovereign defence capability will help Australia achieve greater efficiency and resilience in the delivery of defence technologies, and in our ability to protect the nation.”

There are many benefits to manufacturing locally, Dr Tran said, including lower geopolitical risks, increased operational transparency, regulatory compliance alignment, intellectual property protection, enhanced ability to customise products, less dependence on international suppliers, reduced exposure to global supply chain disruptions, faster time to market and quality control – with a predictable cost structure.

“It also encourages the growth of local businesses while building a skilled workforce to develop a consistent pipeline of local talent with proximity and access to local R&D institutions,” Dr Tran added.