Australia needs cyber tools to keep up in the space arms race, according to the head of the national Space Agency. 

Space Agency chair Dr Megan Clark says big nations like the US, Russia, China and India are increasingly militarising and weaponising their space capability.

Several nations now have the capability to destroy or disarm space assets.

“This is something that Australia can really step into and help other countries,” Dr Clark says, adding that it will require a focus on information and cyber warfare.

Dr Clark has been working with her incoming military counterpart - Air Vice Marshal Cath Roberts, head of the defence space division and one of the founding members of the space agency's advisory board.

Not many countries currently have a dedicated civilian space agency, like the Australian Space Agency or NASA, separate to military and national security agency control.

Dr Clark says Australia is playing a role in responding to the non-military threats like space debris, as well as the potential for humans to live in space.

“I really hope that as we do that we look back on Earth, and we value our air, we value our water, we value our biodiversity of life on Earth as we look for life off our planet,” she says.

“I just don't take this for granted. I do blame or thank The Dish for this national sense that we could be there, and it is absolutely getting behind what we we're trying to do at the agency.”