Dr Chad Hargrave is Research Group Leader for the Mining Automation group in CSIRO’s Mineral Resources Research Unit. He has over 30 years’ experience in industrial and mining automation, leading major industry projects in longwall automation, teleoperated shiploading, and roadway stability monitoring. His group’s research in sensing, automation and excavation technologies is applied to mining challenges such as geological characterisation and equipment/infrastructure monitoring, guidance and automation to enable safer, more selective mining in challenging environments, including the adaptation of terrestrial mining technology to space applications. Chad is currently co-chair of the Technical Working Group of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group.