EOS builds its own military-industrial complex

Written by: Nick G. on 2 June 2026

Australian company EOS has just announced the appointment of Air Vice-Marshal (Ret’d) Catherine Roberts AO, CSC and Major General (Ret’d) Kathryn Toohey AM, CSC as Non-Executive Directors, effective 1 June 2026.

Roberts was Australia’s inaugural Commander of Defence Space Command, led the establishment and operational delivery of Australia’s military space capability and has worked extensively with allied defence and government organisations across North America, Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Toohey has worked in sovereign defence capability, infrastructure, digital systems and national security environments. She is on the board of right-wing opinion maker Australian Strategic Policy Institute Ltd.

The following excerpt from our recent publication “Fight the Militarisation of Space” may help to understand the significance of this merging of industrial and military interests and their application to the military domain of Space:

On November 30, 2023, the Australian Defence Magazine hosted a Space Summit in Canberra. If the various imperialist blocs actually honoured the UN Outer Space Treaty there would never have been such a Summit. 

This was made clear by the contribution to the Summit of Australian company Electro Optic Systems (EOS). The company began operating more than 40 years ago in the civilian arena, but has increasingly focussed on the following: 

• space domain intelligence and control services 
• laser, remote weapon system and counter-drone technologies 
• high-performance naval satellite communications products 

2022 was a disastrous year for the company financially, and it lost many staff. Its Chairman and CEO told shareholders in the 2022 annual report that they were cutting back so “we are focused on core business areas where we have genuine technological advantages over competitors. Current examples include our family of remote weapon systems (RWS); our long-established expertise in space domain awareness and other space services”. The presentation it made at the Summit was basically to sell its services to US imperialism in its contention with Chinese social-imperialism over the seeking of military superiority in Space. 

It claimed that Australia is one of just two countries with the capabilities to neutralise large numbers of satellites passing over its territory. EOS spokesperson Dr Ben Greene said Australian Space Domain Awareness (SDA) covered around one sixth of the sky, delivered by, among others, EOS with its laser tracking facility in Canberra, the RAAF’s space telescope in WA and the new US-owned LeoLabs Australia space radar, also in WA. 

“We could intercept and interdict the satellite operations of any country on earth, if we chose to. That’s a really powerful platform for us,” he said. “It’s quite feasible now to talk about taking out hundreds of satellites a day if that was necessary.”

The US imperialist drive for control of Space, aided and abetted by the likes of EOS, was revealed on May 29 by the US SPACECOM’s Chief Scientist who said that “Developing capabilities for operations in cislunar space, including offensive space control, is among the top new science and technology (S&T) priorities for US Space Command (SPACECOM)”. This was reported in the US online journal Breaking Defense (see: SPACECOM exploring tech for future offensive cislunar ops: Chief Scientist - Breaking Defense ).

He added, “…we want to exploit that space from an offensive sort of space control perspective.” 

Both SPACECOM and the Space Force have been expressing increased interest in future operations in the vast volumes of space between Earth’s outer orbit and that of the moon as an outgrowth of President Donald Trump’s December Executive Order on space superiority.

A SPACECOM spokesperson said the aim was that the US, “working alongside its allies and partners, has the freedom of action to operate in space and the ability to project power when and where required.”

EOS’s appointments of senior retired military personnel to its board indicates that it will seek to profit from the US militarisation of Space.

We must stop Australia’s involvement in the US military’s colonisation of Space.

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