Inside Queensland's skyrocketing space industry

Words: Morgan Burley MOTION GRAPHICS: HELEN SIMMONS

and the Darling Downs are at the forefront of Australia's burgeoning space industry. From research to rocket testing, here's a look at how the industry is taking shape.

Satellite launch site

Billion-dollar small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit has picked Wagner Corporation’s Wellcamp Airport as its next satellite launch site and spaceport.

Virgin Orbit uses a rocket fired from a 747 aircraft to launch satellites into space for climate monitoring, telecommunications services and other activities. The deal will be a major boost to Australia's small satellite industry.

Astronomical research

The nearby Mount Kent Observatory is the only facility in the Southern Hemisphere supporting NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission.

The Observatory, operated by the UniSQ's Astrophysics team , has led the way in unique discoveries, including more than 100 new planets orbiting stars other than the Sun.

Rocket testing

In a giant leap for Australian space research, the first privately-owned, static rocket testing site was developed by Rocket Technologies International and the University of Southern Queensland at the Waterfall Creek Mine at Helidon .

And Queensland-based Black Sky Aerospace in 2021 completed the first successful launch of a fully sovereign designed, made and powered rocket in more than 40 years on the NSW-Queensland border near Goondiwindi.

iLAuNCH hub

A recent $50m grant to UniSQ has green lit its Innovative Launch, Automation, Novel Materials, Communications and Hypersonics (iLAuNCH) Hub, which will boost Australia's space manufacturing capabilities in a new research hub .

The project, valued at $180m, will help commercialise space research and development . It is expected to turbocharge the nation’s space sector, which could to be worth $3.65b by 2030.

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