Queensland studies potential rocket launch sites

Denise Johnston, of the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, said a rocket launch site could be built on private or public land.

"If the industry was willing to build its own launch facility, then it would be, in my opinion, a good result, at the forefront of the industry, not to mention the government's intervention" , she said in the parliamentary inquiry Monday.

The first Australian commercial space center was planned in the Northern Territory, but Ms. Johnston said that it might also be advantageous to have a launch site in Queensland, also close to the equator .

"There are different orbits to which space vehicles can be launched, and so where you are located geographically, you can influence the most useful orbits for you," she said.

"Since we [Queensland] are on the east coast and the Northern Territory is obviously in a different geographic position, it would be possible to use each of these sites for different types of launches. "

Mrs. Johnston said that a launch site would not create a lot of jobs, but would instead come from the supply chain of the space industry.

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Ms. Johnston said that Queensland was well positioned to take advantage of the space industry because it had a strong manufacturing sector and hosted many international and national data collection analysis companies. and Earth Observation, such as DigitalGlobe and Boeing, as well as a strong research area. in its best universities.

Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk met with Australian Space Agency Chief Megan Clark in July, while Johnston said the space industry was a "priority area" for the Queensland government.

The State Development Department has also begun work on a detailed economic assessment of space sector opportunities and on a capacity audit of the space industry.

However, Ms. Johnston stated that Australia had neither the capacity nor the time nor the budget to develop its own "end-to-end space ecosystem".

"In general, the supply chain of the space industry begins with the development and launch of the spacecraft and ends with the application of the data provided by the spacecraft", she said.

It was not the first time that Queensland was targeting the stars.

In 1986 Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, then Prime Minister, announced the project of the world's first commercial spaceport, Cape Space, which he hoped would become a rocket launch site and a space transportation project.

Cape York was chosen because of its proximity to the equator, which would achieve significant launch cost savings.

However, the project never materialized because of financial difficulties and the movement for indigenous land rights has developed.

Last year, Ms. Palaszczuk stated that the land had been officially returned to its traditional owners, with title deeds worth 160,730 hectares of Cape York land, known as Bromley, transferred to the Wuthathi peoples, Kuuku Ya & u, and Northern Kaanju.

"When the Bjelke-Petersen government announced plans in 1986, they did not care to consult the traditional owners, they just took the land," she said.

"It was wrong, and today, my government has returned Bromley to its rightful owners."