Space Centre Australia pioneers trailblazing rocket launch system in new international partnership
A Far North spaceport in partnership with international rocket specialists has pioneered a futuristic idea for launching satellites into space, and is looking to FNQ for its base.
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A Far North spaceport in partnership with international rocket specialists has pioneered a futuristic idea for launching satellites into space, and is looking to FNQ for its base.
Space Centre Australia, currently developing a spaceport outside of Weipa, has partnered with UK-Ukrainian company Orbit Boy.
The partnership, titled Asia Pacific Launch, is working on an airmobile horizontal rocket launch system that could be operational and commercialised by the end of 2024, and possibly permanently based at a Far North airport such as Cairns International.
The system includes a multistage rocket that is effectively pushed on a rail from the rear door of a transport aircraft.
The rocket would then drive itself to where its payload, likely a satellite, needs to be while its stages break apart and fall safely into the ocean to be recovered.
Space Centre Australia chief executive James Palmer said the new partnership boded well for the manufacturing sector in the Far North.
“We are looking for options to base this service out of a major international airport … we can base a big set-up like this in the Far North,” Mr Palmer said.
“This is a benefit for the region. It opens doors for aviation manufacturing and development as well as componentry manufacturing.
“This isn’t a reusable system. Therefore it becomes a manufacturing process once we patent this. There’s opportunity for businesses in our region to manufacture components and systems that will form the end product (the rocket).
“Australia is an untapped market for this type of capability and this will be a real bolster for the space industry here. Space Centre Australia is the enabler to bring companies like this to Australia and help them navigate local governance and regulation.”
Traditional launch methods for satellites involve vertical launch rocket systems from fixed locations on the Earth’s surface, such as Cape Canaveral in the US and Space Centre Australia’s planned port near Weipa.
Mr Palmer said this new capability offers a cost-competitive launch option for the growing satellite industry and Asia Pacific Launch was already in discussion with satellite developers and other companies about use of the system.
“Demand for access to space is still very high,” he said.
“For a satellite developer, one of the biggest problems is access to and cost of launch. This system brings that cost down.
“We’ve started talking to a wide variety of Australian-based companies … we will be working with satellite developers who want to launch with us.
“There’s so many applications this can be used for. This system, to oversimplify it, is the bus that gets the passenger payload into orbit.
“It could also be used to clean up low Earth orbit. There’s so much space junk up there that threatens satellites which you need to physically deorbit. So there’s a huge space environmental sustainability opportunity here too.
“It’s a big project. We’ve got to bring in different capabilities, businesses and people to get these satellites in the sky.”
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Originally published as Space Centre Australia pioneers trailblazing rocket launch system in new international partnership
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