7 thoughts on “Australia’s Future In Space”

  1. To launch a major space station and put it in a ecliptic orbit (where it would be more useful for planetary missions), the Gold Coast would be in ideal location, launching out over the Coral Sea. Australia doesn’t need a space agency, and might be better off without one if some private ventures from the US someday decide to take advantage of the location and lack of red tape.

  2. Lack of red tape? In Australia? The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) makes the FAA look like a model of efficiency and reason. You are right though George, we’d be better off without an official body.
    For years I’ve thought we should simply contract the FAA to run Australian civil aviation. They could put on a few extra staff in Hawaii and call it the far south west region office.

    1. Heh. Mike is on the money. Every attempt to set up a commercial spaceport in Australia has run into the brick wall of government bureaucracy. The last serious group retargeted at Papua New Guinea and now most of the players are at Deep Space Industries.

      Rand is right, though. Launch is hardly the most important part of spaceflight. The real problem here is a failure to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit. When it comes to space, it’s all about space [i]research[/i], and that inevitably means government grants. If you want to start a business, it’s much easier to just go to another country.

  4. ““Somewhat surprisingly to some, Australia does not have good sites for orbital launches,” counters Biddington. “That’s because as the spent launcher casings come back to earth, they invariably threaten cities, other high value economic activities (such as mines) or the sovereign integrity of our neighbors.””

    Maybe this wont be a problem much longer.

  5. The “Geography” issue threw me for a loop. For a start, they didn’t even mention that satellites have gone into orbit from Woomerra, Australia, before, and have done so at least as recently as the 80’s.

    As for the spent booster issue; there’s a fascinating roadside display at an Aussie roadhouse south of Woomerra of mangled spent boosters recovered from the outback (Womerra has seen a lot of launches). The Russians, too, drop theirs on land. The issue of the mine is absurd; that’s only on a very, very narrow bearing from Woomerra (They probably mean the Leigh Creek mine, about 105 miles at a bearing of 62 degrees), so in the rare cases where it’d be an issue, just avoid it by changing the early launch trajectory by a degree. They have plenty of latitude with northeast trajectories otherwise. As for Adelaide, that’s at 275 miles on a bearing of 158. Launching into polar or sun synchronous orbits from Woomerra would be easy- you’d be dropping the 1st stage in the Great Australian Bight.

    However, if Woomerra is unacceptable due to the land issue, why not do what the US does, and have a second launch site further north for LEO and GEO? Up on Cape York they could have a facility near existing transportation infrastructure with clear shots on easterly headings. Even if it’s as far south as Cairns, that’s at 16S. Even Woomerra, which is called “Too far south” for GEO, is at 30S, so roughly comparable to KSC at 28N, and a heck of a lot better than Biakonor (Sorry for the mangled spelling) at 45N with a 51 degree trajectory limit due to issues with Chinese airspace.
    Or, if they want just one facility, put it on or near Frasier Island (an island separated from the mainland by a bridgeable narrow channel, situated North of Brisbane) which would be fine for high inclination polar launches to the north or south, or eastbound for Leo or Geo, and it’s at 24S, so closer to the equator than KSC is.

    I also take issue with the article’s notion that they need a government department in order to have a space program; I think the opposite is probably closer to the truth. 🙂

  6. The big issue with Australia is that it signed and ratified the Moon Treaty. So ANY firm launching from Australia would be under it.

Comments are closed.