Australia launches brand new space agency in attempt to flee the Earth

Australia will create its own space agency – but hasn't said what it will do.

The country wants to create its equivalent of the US's Nasa or Russia's Roscosmos. But it hasn't said what aims the agency will have, or how much money it will spend doing it.

It only said that it hopes the money can take advantage of the $330 billion and growing space economy, and that it would aim to help develop the country so that it is more focused on innovation and science. But it said very little more.

"It's a small agency to coordinate and lead," prime minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters. "The space sector, of course, is one of enormous potential."

Acting Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Michaelia Cash said the agency's charter would be developed by the end of March.

"The global space industry is growing rapidly and it's crucial that Australia is part of this growth," Cash said in a statement.

"A national space agency will ensure we have a strategic long-term plan that supports the development and application of space technologies and grows our domestic space industry," she added.

The opposition Labor Party said such an agency was needed to increase Australia's share of a global space economy from less than 1 percent of what the government estimates is worth $330 billion.

Labor said Australia and Iceland were the only countries in the 35-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that do not have a space agency.

Australia in 1967 became one of the first countries to launch a satellite and images of astronaut Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon were transmitted by NASA's Honeysuckle Creek tracking station in Australia.

But successive governments have baulked at establishing a space agency because of cost. The government has yet to announce how much it will invest in the new agency.

Additional reporting by Associated Press