This computer generated image shows what the space station in Easy Arnhem land could look like.
Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) has secured a $1 million contract with the US space agency – the first commercial company to ever do so.
The launch site is in East Arnhem Land and has been developed in communication with local landowners from the Gumatj clan.
The
plan is to launch and recover things that have been sent into space,
with three NASA rockets scheduled to take off from the facility in
mid-2012.
ELA CEO Carley Scott with Djawa Yunupingu (Gumatj Corporation Board
member), Blake Nikolic (CEO Black Sky Aerospace). The nosecone design is
by Dorothy Yunupingu of Djulpan, despicting the seven sisters. (LJM Photography)
"They
will carry telescopes with world-leading technology on them to go and
look at stars, and help us understand them," ELA CEO Carley Scott told
Nine.com.au.
The "sounding rockets" used for scientific research are between 15 and 20 metres tall.
The
10-hectare site has already been cleared and the next step is to pour
the concrete and start building in anticipation of a site visit from
NASA next year.
Freya Noble
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