NASA’s first spaceflight from an Australian commercial site

NASA’s first spaceflight from a commercial site outside the United States took off Sunday evening from the Australian Outback, a “historic” moment for the country’s space industry.

This is the first of three flights planned in total from the Arnhem Space Center (northern Australia). The rocket, which carries a small space telescope described as a ‘mini Hubble’, lifted off to an altitude of 350 km into the starry night.

“It’s a historic moment for us as a company in particular, but it’s also historic for Australia,” Equatorial Launch Australia CEO Michael Jones told AFP before takeoff.

His company owns and operates the launch site located in the far north of the island. Mr Jones described Sunday’s lift-off as the ‘coming out’ of Australia’s space industry and hailed the chance to work with NASA.

Visible from the Southern Hemisphere

After several delays due to rain and wind, the suborbital sounding rocket was able to leave to study the X-rays emanating from the stars Alpha Centauri A and B, which together form a binary star. After reaching its peak, the rocket payload must record data on the binary system before descending back to earth using a parachute.

According to NASA, this launch offers a unique insight into other solar systems and offers new opportunities for scientists.

“We look forward to being able to launch major science missions from the southern hemisphere and observe targets that we cannot see from the United States,” said Nicky Fox, director of NASA’s heliophysics department. presenting the mission to Washington.

years of work

Mr Jones said the unique location had complicated preparations: the rockets have to be brought from Darwin to the site – a 28-hour drive – and it took years of work to get all the official clearances.

The next launch is scheduled for July 4, leaving little time for the team – time to ‘get dusted off, take a day off, and then get back to it’, according to Mr Jones.

It is the first NASA rocket to take off from Australia since 1995. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the start of a “new era” for his country’s space industry.

/ATS

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