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Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grants

Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grants

  • Applications for Intake 11 are open until 16 July 2024.
  • Grants ranging from $250,000 to $1 million are available, covering up to 75 per cent of eligible project expenditure.

The Australian Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grants provide funding for Australian businesses to enhance their ability to deliver products and services into domestic and international space industry supply chains, supporting Moon to Mars activities.

The Australian Moon to Mars Initiative is a key component of the Advancing Space: Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028, enabling Australian businesses and researchers to contribute to NASA's mission to return to the Moon and proceed to Mars.

The grants aim to:
- enhance Australian industry’s capability and capacity to support NASA’s Moon to Mars mission
- increase the participation of Australian companies in domestic and international space supply chains supporting Moon to Mars activities
- develop the skills, capabilities, and capacity of the Australian space industry.

Key Requirements

The assessment criteria outline how each application is evaluated. The application form includes questions related to these criteria. The level of detail and supporting evidence you provide should be proportionate to the project’s size, complexity, and the grant amount requested.
Assessment Criterion 1 – How your project will enhance your skills, capability, and capacity to participate in domestic and/or international space industry supply chains:
  • the strength of your domestic and/or international supply chain opportunity, including details of your customer and certainty of the opportunity (e.g. letter of intent or contract)
  • how your supply chain opportunity supports Moon to Mars activities
  • how the opportunity will support your business growth now and in the future
  • how your project will help you meet this supply chain opportunity
  • the skills, capability, and capacity you will develop

You must provide strong evidence of your supply chain opportunity to succeed against this criterion.

Assessment Criterion 2 – Your capacity, capability, and resources to deliver the project:
  • how you will leverage existing capability, including through current and new partnerships
  • your track record in managing similar projects and access to personnel with relevant skills and experience, including project management and technical staff
  • your access to required infrastructure, capital equipment, technology, and intellectual property
  • your project plan, including your strategy to:
    • manage the project, including scope, implementation methodology, and timeframes
    • mitigate delivery risks (including national security risks)
    • secure required regulatory or other approvals

You must attach a project plan and budget to your application.

Assessment Criterion 3 – The impact of grant funding:
  • how your project will enhance Australian industry capability to support Moon to Mars activities
  • benefits to the Australian space industry, including the uniqueness of your product, process, or service and the extent to which it provides a competitive advantage to Australia
  • the broader economic impact of your project, including spill-over effects in other areas of the economy and anticipated direct/indirect employment growth
  • any additional investment the grant will leverage, including quantified direct and in-kind contributions to the project

What is eligible for funding?

Eligible activities:
  • aim to access a domestic and/or international supply chain opportunity that supports Moon to Mars activities
  • align with the Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028 priorities
  • have at least $333,334 in eligible expenditure (based on a minimum grant of $250,000)
Eligible activities must directly contribute to project outcomes and include, but are not limited to:
  • buying, leasing, constructing, installing, or commissioning capital equipment, including specialist software to enhance cyber security design to required levels
  • non-recurring engineering to improve or qualify a product, process, or service to the standards of a domestic and/or international space company
  • non-recurring engineering to adapt a product, process, or service from an adjacent industry to support the space industry
  • building organisational capability or capacity to engage in international supply chains
  • engineering and commissioning activities
  • workforce training and accreditations

Other activities that contribute towards achieving the program outcomes may also be approved.

Projects must clearly support the development of the Australian space industry and its participation in the domestic and/or international space marketplace.
Grant funds can only be spent on eligible expenditure incurred for an agreed project as defined in your grant agreement. Eligible expenditure must:
  • be a direct cost of the project
  • be incurred for required project audit activities
  • be incurred within the project period, unless stated otherwise
  • meet the eligible expenditure guidelines

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible entities – Australian businesses with a proven domestic or international space supply chain opportunity must meet the following criteria:
  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • be registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • be an entity incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation, where:
    • trading activities form a significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities; or
    • trading activities are substantial and not merely peripheral to the corporation.

Joint applications are acceptable if there is a lead organisation that is the main driver of the project and eligible to apply.

Additional eligibility requirements – applicants must also provide:
  • Clear evidence, such as a letter of intent or contract from a customer, demonstrating a domestic or international space supply chain opportunity.
  • Evidence from the board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) supporting the project and confirming the ability to complete the project and cover costs not funded by the grant.
  • An accountant’s declaration confirming the entity is a trading corporation and can fund its share of the project costs, including any ineligible expenditure.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.