The Australian space sector has been identified as one of the eight focus areas as part of Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) program.
With $150 million in grants available to universities and their industry partners, AEA will help strengthen local space research and technical capabilities.
The program supports the Australian Government's Future Made in Australia policy — an initiative to scale up priority industries that will help diversify and grow Australia’s economy and workforce through research commercialisation and translation.
Available grants and deadlines
The latest round of AEA grants will bolster Australia’s economy through advancing our research commercialisation capabilities. Two streams of funding opportunities are available through the Australian Government initiative.
While the AEA Innovate grants offers up to $5 million for proof-of-scale, the AEA Ignite grants can provide up to $500,000 for proof-of-concept.
Deadlines for Round 2:
• Expressions of Interest for AEA Innovate grants close at 5 pm AEST Friday 29 August 2025.
• Submissions for AEA's Ignite grants applications close at 5 pm AEST Wednesday 3 September 2025.
The first rounds of both AEA grants have already demonstrated exciting projects that will advance Australia's economy through research commercialisation capabilities.
AEA Innovate
- Funding for proof-of-scale.
- Up to $5 million per grant for up to 2 years.
- The closing date for Expressions of Interest is 5 pm AEST Friday 29 August 2025.
- Over $93 million was awarded to 39 research commercialisation projects under AEA Innovate Round 1.
AEA Ignite
- Funding for proof-of-concepts.
- Up to $500,000 per grant for up to 1 year.
- Applications for AEA Ignite Round 2 will close at 5:00pm AEST Wednesday 3 September 2025.
- More than $59 million of funding awarded to 155 research grants in AEA Ignite Round 1.
Backing the sector
Learn more about the Australian Government grants and support are available to the domestic space sector.