Dr Brad Tucker is a research fellow at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mt Stromlo Observatory at the Australian National University, and a frequent visitor to Dubbo on his way to the Siding Spring Observatory.

He says the region's low population density and existing infrastructure – including the Parkes radio telescope – make it a natural fit for Australia's space agency.

And as states across the country bustle for the federal government's attention, he said it's not naive to think the Dubbo region would have a role to play.

"It's funny because Victoria and Western Australia have said they would be the perfect place for Australia's space agency ... in my mind this [Dubbo] region has a stronger argument than Melbourne," Dr Tucker said.

"It’s not actually that far from Sydney as a city. The fact is someone from overseas can fly directly into Sydney and an hour flight to Dubbo and that's it ... the cheaper and more efficient you make things, the more groups can jump onto it.

"The area will have a role. Whether the space agency says so or not, it's going to naturally have a role."

No fewer than eight countries - not including Australia - already have infrastructure at Siding Spring, including the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

Closer to home, the Dubbo Observatory on Camp Road also engages in international collaboration, using it’s telescopes to monitor geo-stationary satellites for an American company.

An international push towards greater space situational awareness – the ability to detect, and protect satellites from, space junk – is already driving greater investment in the region.

JAXA already conducts space situational awareness activities from Siding Spring, Dr Tucker said, where equipment is shielded from radio frequency interference and light pollution.

"To see the faint stuff, you need clear, dark skies," he said.

"There's a lot of groups honing in on the space situational awareness, because if space junk knocks out your satellite you've lost millions of dollars in infrastructure.

"[JAXA] needed somewhere to do it and the infrastructure was already there. It's the same reason NASA ran a near-earth object sighting project at Siding Spring for a decade."

Dr Tucker said the existing infrastructure in the region would continue to drive investment – regardless of where the space agency is.

"It costs a lot of money to build fibre optic cables and electricity grids," he said.

"They're multi-million dollar projects so if you want to build five extra radio communications dishes and you have to create five new sites, you're investing $20 milion just to lay the supporting infrastructure. That's already done in this region.

“That's why people at Siding Spring and Parkes and Narrabri get called every month by groups wanting to do projects.”