Former Woodside Energy executive Jason Crusan in top job at Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth

Former Woodside new energy executive Jason Crusan has jumped in the pilot’s seat of a non-profit seeking to accelerate Western Australia’s fledgling space industry. He will become chief executive of Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth at the start of November, about five years after the industry group was founded in a push to diversify the State’s economy. AROSE was backed by top resources businesses and the State Government to take technology used for autonomous mining and subsea oil and gas projects into orbit. The industry group bid to build the nation’s first lunar rover for the Australian Space Agency but was beaten by Queensland’s ELO2 Consortium last year. Mr Crusan was a top official at NASA before moving DownUnder to take the helm of Woodside’s H2Perth hydrogen project near Kwinana. “We have the chance to help build entirely new commercial enterprises that draw on Australia’s ingenuity in communications, robotics, automation, and remote operations,” he said. “Just as importantly, AROSE can continue to inspire and prepare the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators who will carry these capabilities into the future economy.” The State Government has tipped cash into an Australian Automation and Robotics Precinct in Neerabup where companies can test remote trucks and drills. AROSE’s next mission is to build an outdoor lunar test site at Neerabup to trial equipment before it is sent to the moon.