The Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) is Australia's first and only commercial spaceport, located near Nhulunbuy, in Arnhem Land, Australia. It is owned and operated by Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), and it is the site of NASA's first non-orbital sounding rocket launch from a commercial port outside the United States on 27 June 2022.[1]
Arnhem Space Centre is equipped to launch both sub-orbital flights and small orbital flights. The site's location, only 12 degrees south of the equator, is preferable for orbital rockets launching east, as extra speed is provided due to the spin of Earth.[7] It is the first commercial spaceport in Australia, and as of July 2022[update] the only one.[8]
On 26 June 2022, the American space agencyNASA used the site for its first launch from a commercial port outside the United States.[8][9] The rocket was a Black Brant IX carrying a X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC)[10] instrument for UW–Madison for the purpose of X-ray astronomy for a brief period ( 5-20 min) in space.[11] The mission was a suborbital flight with apogee of 203 mi (327 km). It was the first launch of a suborbital sounding rocket from Arnhem Space Centre in north-east Arnhem Land.[12] The mission was successful.
A second launch was scheduled for 4 July but was delayed until 6 July 11:17pm ACST due to weather conditions. The spacecraft, named Sistine III, was sent by NASA to investigate the properties of astronomical transits of nearby exoplanets.[13][14]
The third launch took place on 11 July 2022 at 8:31pm ACST, carrying the fourth DEUCE mission, intended by NASA to investigate and analyze the Alpha Centauri star system's ultraviolet spectrum.[14]
As of July 2022[update] the long term future of the site was not known, but Equatorial Launch Australia had indicated that there are other space companies interested in using the rocket launch pad, and NASA has confirmed that it will use the facility again in the future.[3]
In August 2023, ELA announced that there would be launches by early 2025 by INNOSPACEofSouth Korea.[15]
In 2023 ELA signed an agreement Phantom Space Corporation, a US rocket company, to collaborate on missions at ASC. Phantom has links to the US Department of Defense, and an ELA spokesperson said that the launch site could one day be used for missile-testing and development. Phantom hopes to mass-produce rockets, which could be fired from the ASC site by 2025. While the main focus is on commercial uses, the potential for involvement in military use has raised concerns among the local community.[16]
