When Gunggandji man Daniel Joinbee was a young boy he dreamed of going to the stars.
"I was a Star Trek and Star Wars tragic," he said.
"But also, mob have been sleeping under the stars for 60,000 years, navigating by the stars and hunting by the stars."
While working as an air traffic controller for the Air Force, Mr Joinbee realised the emerging Australian space industry had the potential to create opportunities for First Nations people.
But he didn't want to wait around for one of the big defence multinationals (defence 'primes' in industry-speak) to offer some sort of partnership on their terms.
So Mr Joinbee formed his own company, Gunggandji Aerospace - and he wants more Indigenous people to think about a career in space.
Mr Joinbee said while an aptitude for science, technology, engineering and maths is one pathway to working in the aerospace industry, it isn't the only one.
"There's two ways you can be an air traffic controller," he said.
"You can do the maths in the angles or you can sort of do it by gut feel, and I was always a natural air traffic controller.
"I could see the sequences before me and then take control and manage the situations that unfolded - it's sort of like seeing in four dimensions, if you include time."
Gunggandji Aerospace has a few different arms, offering consulting services in space, defence and aviation and fostering opportunities for Indigenous people who want to pursue a career in the industry.
Mr Joinbee said they were aiming to create non-traditional paths for employment for Indigenous people and others.
"A traditional pathway is finishing high school, TAFE or university, then going into a job," he said.
"We want candidates who are post incarceration, or mums returning to the workforce or people entering the workforce for the first time.
"I want the kids who who didn't finish high school or the candidates that had an adverse upbringing and want to throw their hat in the ring and try."
Australia’s space industry is expected to expand rapidly, with the nation holding geographical and geopolitical advantages.
Australia’s space economy will also grow, tripling to $12 billion by 2030, according to Australian government estimates.
Gunggandji Aerospace aims to ensure First Nations people are able to take advantage of the government’s recently announced goal of creating up to 20,000 new Australian space sector jobs by 2030.
"It takes more than two people to fly a plane," Mr Joinbee said.
"And that's really important for people to realise, you don't need to be the pilot sitting at the front of the plane to make a really meaningful contribution to getting an airplane up in the air and away on time.
"And it's similar getting a rocket into space and releasing a payload of several satellites."
Mr Joinbee hopes organisations like Gunggandji Aerospace will help bolster the future of jobs in the industry and says incorporating Indigenous knowledge will complement the industry’s understanding of space.
"Australia and the world can learn a lot from Indigenous Australians and their historical connection to astronomy and space,” he said.
Gunggandji Aerospace will hold an International First Nations Space Science and Environment symposium in Cairns on September 15.
