‘Elon, we want you’: Push for SpaceX launch pad in the NT

BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk’s private rocket company, SpaceX, has been urged to consider strategically advantageous parts of the Northern Territory to build its next space launch pad

• Business highlights of the first six months of 2020 – a year never to be forgotten
• Milestone satellite project to boost jobs, investment in NT space industry

BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk’s private rocket company, SpaceX, has been urged to consider strategically advantageous parts of the Northern Territory to build its next space launch pad.

It comes as angry residents on the Indonesian island of Biak express their fierce opposition after SpaceX was invited to build a launch pad there.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Malcolm Davis said he believed Biak was an “unstable” location for SpaceX’s space port and the company should instead look to the Northern Territory.

MORE TOP NEWS

Supreme Court Justice seeks advice about potentially suing Darwin silk for defamation

CATTLE INDUSTRY WIN: New taskforce to combat stock theft in the NT

Ginger on the menu to open up new markets

Dr Davis, an expert in space policy, said Equatorial Launch Australia was already working with the US space agency to launch NASA rockets from Nhulunbuy.

“Biak is very close to the equator, and thus ideal for taking advantage of Earth’s rotation in a manner that reduces cost to orbit,” he said.

SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)

“But putting the launch site in a poor, underdeveloped area absent of local infrastructure and in the middle of popular unrest with the West Papuans and Jakarta, is a dumb idea.”

Dr Davis said Nhulunbuy was only 12 degrees south of the equator and a more suitable alternative. “Musk could work with Equatorial Launch Australia in Nhulunbuy to launch rockets from there at far less risk in terms of things going wrong with the local population,” he said.

“For Musk’s operation, it’s a safer bet to go with Nhulunbuy than Biak because he would be establishing the facility on the territory of a friendly state.

HOT NEW DEAL: Read everything for 28 days for just $1

“Australia is one of the most loyal allies of the United States, it’s politically stable and environmentally, we’re far more sensitive.”

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he would definitely welcome SpaceX into the NT.

“My message to Elon is this: We want you. Launch to space from the Territory — the best equatorial launch site in the world,” he said.

Equatorial Launch Australia and SpaceX were contacted for comment.

Follow @tashemeck