OQ wins Australia project
September 17, 2026

By Chris Forrester



Luxembourg-based satellite technology business OQ Technology has won an Australian contract covering research and sensing into forest monitoring, disaster resilience and remote connectivity.

OQ Technology Australia says that its project, called Space-Enabled Smart Sensing for Forest Monitoring, is one of five collaborative projects awarded funding through NSSN Grand Challenge Fund 2026. The collaborative initiative brings together the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), Western Sydney University, University of NSW (UNSW), the NSW Space Research Network (SRN), Scenic World, Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, and OQ Technology.


The collaboration builds on prior engagement between OQ Technology, the NSW Space Research Network (SRN), and Western Sydney University, and has been brought together through the NSSN Grand Challenge Fund to deliver an integrated research and industry partnership.

The project will deploy advanced environmental sensor networks connected through OQ Technology’s low-Earth-orbit satellite NTN IoT infrastructure to enable real-time monitoring of forests and ecosystems in remote or difficult-to-connect areas. The initiative will support improved visibility of ecosystem health, climate stress, biodiversity activity and natural hazard risk in the Greater Blue Mountains region of New South Wales.

While the project is focused initially on forest and ecosystem monitoring, its strategic relevance extends further. It will demonstrate how satellite-enabled sensing can help address a broader national challenge: the need for reliable, scalable and resilient data connectivity across Australia’s remote landscapes, where terrestrial networks may be unavailable, unreliable or vulnerable during extreme events.

The initiative represents an important milestone for OQ Technology following the company’s expansion into Australia and highlights the growing collaboration between Australia and Luxembourg in space-enabled environmental technologies, smart sensing and resilient infrastructure.

The project will also include a new fully instrumented monitoring site within Scenic World’s rainforest estate in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. This is particularly relevant for remote forests, farms, natural landscapes and public infrastructure, where monitoring and coordination can be most critical during bushfires, floods, severe weather or other emergency conditions.

Omar Qaise, Founder and CEO of OQ Technology, said: “This project demonstrates the growing importance of satellite-enabled IoT infrastructure in addressing some of the world’s most pressing environmental and climate resilience challenges. Australia is an ideal environment to showcase how satellite communications can support critical monitoring applications in remote and climate-sensitive regions.”

Professor Brendan Choat from Western Sydney University, added: “Continuous, real-time monitoring of ecosystem stress is becoming increasingly important for forestry, biodiversity conservation, carbon markets and climate adaptation. By integrating advanced sensors with satellite-enabled communications, we can now monitor ecosystems in locations that were previously very difficult to reach or connect.”