Australia’s Fleet Space Technologies will seek to “expand the technology frontier” of terrestrial miners and continue to build a toolkit for off-planet prospecting with a triumvirate of rising stars in the country’s deep-tech space.
Adelaide-based Fleet Space says it has forged partnerships with mDetect, Nomad Atomics and DeteQt, university spin-outs that have miniaturised quantum sensors for mineral detection and other applications. Fleet Space wants to enhance the power and scope of more traditional geophysics survey tools to deliver an “unprecedented 3D picture of the subsurface” for end-users on Earth and beyond.
It has exploration contracts with mining heavyweights such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Barrick, Gold Fields and next year hopes to deploy its SPIDER lunar pathfinder on the Moon.
Five-year-old Swinburne University of Technology progeny mDetect has advanced in the muon tomography field which has strong support among some leading mineral geoscientists, while Melbourne-based Nomad Atomics raised A$12 million in 2023 to develop and market its compact quantum gravimeter.
Relative newcomer DeteQt, spun out from the University of Sydney Nano Institute, won pre-seed backing this year from Australia’s Main Sequence Ventures and US deep-tech investor ATP Fund.
Fleet Space says DeteQt is “revolutionising the field with its patented diamond-on-chip quantum magnetometers”.
“By partnering with global leaders in quantum gravimetry and magnetometry we’re bringing laboratory-grade precision into a hand-held package,” Fleet Space’s chief scientist, Dr Gerrit Olivier said.
“These sensors deliver extreme precision and stability in the field, letting crews collect higher-fidelity gravity and magnetic data with fewer stations, lighter logistics and far simpler CONOPS [concept of operations].
“When we fuse these quantum measurements with passive muon tomography, seismic imaging and conventional gravity data inside our joint-inversion framework we obtain an unprecedented 3D picture of the subsurface, from regional reconnaissance right down to drill-ready targets.”
Olivier said compact quantum sensors and muon detectors would fly on upcoming asteroid-scout missions, “allowing humanity to map the interior structure and resource potential of metal-rich bodies that were impossible to reach until recently”.
Fleet Space raised US$100 million of private equity funding last December and earlier in 2025 made its first acquisition, buying Perth-based hard-rock seismic exploration specialist, HiSeis. The company has continued to grow its own Low Earth Orbit nanosatellite fleet.
CEO and co-founder Flavia Tata Nardini says satellites, real-time multi-physics ground sensors and AI can drive rapid, non-invasive, data-driven mineral exploration at scale.
“For the global mining industry to achieve its potential as an industry leader in exploration data-intelligence, we must build the deep technologies and infrastructure that integrate breakthrough sensing modalities into a unified system,” she said.
