A rocket launcher to send satellites into space will be built on the Eyre Peninsula near Port Lincoln

A rocket launcher sending satellites into space will be built in South Australia, a move Premier Steven Marshall said would see the state’s chance to be Space HQ “skyrocket”.

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South Australia’s chances of being Space HQ will “skyrocket” when a rocket launcher that sends satellites into space is built on the Eyre Peninsula, Premier Steven Marshall says.

The dedicated launch site at Whalers Way, near Port Lincoln, will be called the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.

Construction is expected to begin next year. Mr Marshall will announce on Tuesday that both local and international companies will be able to launch rockets and satellites over the Great Australian Bight.

The site is touted as being the first of its kind and a range of interstate companies are planning to build launchpads.

A rocket launch at Woomera in 2002. More rockets will be launched from SA once the new Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex is built. Picture: Chris Stacey

Mr Marshall said the development was significant for the state.

“This venture will serve a growing global demand for polar launch facilities, and further positions SA as a prominent player in the space industry national and internationally,” he said.

A rocket launcher is a critical part of the space industry and Mr Marshall has been bullish about Adelaide’s chances of becoming the centre of such an industry.

The Federal Government is expected to announce within days what the new National Space Agency will look like and where it will be based.

The Advertiser revealed in June that Adelaide company Southern Launch was planning to build a launch site – Australia’s only other launch site is Woomera, which is preserved for Defence work.

Adelaide’s Fleet Space Technologies uses offshore launch facilities.

Just days ago, it launched a nanosatellite from India, its third launch.

Other SA-based satellite companies such as Myriota and Inovor are also sure to be interested.

The dedicated launch site will be called the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex. Pictured here is the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Picture: AFP / Jim Watson

Southern Launch chief executive officer Lloyd Damp said the site would help attract other hi-tech companies to the state.

“I honestly believe that SA has the ingredients to drive advancements in the space industry on the world stage,” he said.

“Now we need to identify the strengths in each other and work together to leverage them.”

Mr Marshall said a range of industries, as well as government and academia, would benefit from the facility as they increasingly use small satellites to gain data and information.

“I’d like to congratulate the team at Southern Launch on this fantastic achievement,” he said.

“It’s a venture that will add to the reputation of our local space industry and will have an enormous impact on our economy more broadly.”

Tomorrow Adelaide will host the Space Industry Association’s 6th Space Forum, and the Space Agency is due to announce how it will be set up by the end of the year.

It may be revealed at the forum or the Council of Australian Governments meeting, also in Adelaide, on December 12.

While many insiders have predicted in the past that Labor will get its way, with the headquarters in Canberra, there is increasing speculation that Adelaide could be chosen because of its burgeoning industry.

Yesterday, Federal Liberal MP Nicolle Flint took the fight for an Adelaide base to Canberra, making the case for an SA base to Industry Minister Karen Andrews.

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