Moon to Mars initiative: Demonstrator Feasibility Grants
Funding to help Australian businesses and research institutions demonstrate the feasibility of space projects
Last Updated: 22 December 2020
If you are a new applicant or existing grantee and have been impacted by COVID-19 or a natural disaster, please contact your Customer Service Manager or one of the agents at our Contact Centre to discuss your circumstances and how we can assist you.
You can find more information and support on our Emergency management page.
Moon to Mars initiative: Demonstrator Feasibility Grants
The Australian Moon to Mars Demonstrator Feasibility Grants provide industry and research institutions with grant funds for new feasibility activities for space projects.
What do you get?
Grants from $50,000 to $200,000 for space project feasibility studies.
You must provide a minimum of $50,000 cash contribution to eligible project expenditure.
Who is this for?
Overview
The Australian Moon to Mars initiative forms an important element of the Advancing Space: Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028 and supports Australian organisations to join NASA’s inspirational endeavour to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.
These grants support Australian businesses and researchers by assisting industry and research institutions to conduct feasibility activities for space projects.
The objectives are to:
- demonstrate Australian small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) capacity and capability to develop space projects with a clear potential to support Moon to Mars activities for any of the following:
- qualification
- space operability
- space support
- access to space
- develop and demonstrate the feasibility of space projects with the:
- potential to operate or directly support operations in space
- ability to support Moon to Mars activities
- demonstrate the value, including commercial value, of space projects to the space industry and marketplace
- develop Australian SME capability in early mission development activities
Future funding opportunities
Eligibility
To be eligible you must:
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
- be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
You must also be one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation, where your trading activities either: 
- form a sufficiently significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it being described as a trading corporation
- are a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation
- a Publicly Funded Research Organisation as defined in the Demonstrator Feasibility Guidelines
Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply.
We can only accept applications where you can provide evidence from your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) that:
- the project is supported
- you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project not covered by Demonstrator Feasibility Grants funding
- confirms you are a trading corporation
We can’t waive the eligibility criteria under any circumstances.
Not eligible
Applying
How do you apply?
The Moon to Mars initiative: Demonstrator Feasibility Grants is closed to applications.
How do we assess your application?
What are the assessment criteria?
What happens next?
Information sessions
A webinar was conducted on Tuesday 10 November 2020 by the Australian Space Agency and the Moon to Mars Program Delivery Team. The webinar provides program information and can be viewed on the Australian Space Agency's YouTube channel.
For more information on key questions raised, please go to the Frequently asked questions document in the key documents section.
Need help?
-
Contact us for help with your application or to find out more.
-
Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia