History of Space Activities in Australia
During the heyday of rocketry research in the 1960s Australia was the seventh nation to launch a satellite, WRESAT, into orbit, and the third from its own soil.
The joint British-Australian Blue Streak program to develop Intercontinental ballistic missiles ended in the late 1960s.
Around the same time the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) was established to develop a European satellite launch vehicle. Woomera, Australia, was chosen as the launch site for the test vehicles. Australia was granted status as the only non-European member of ELDO (one of the precursors to the European Space Agency) in return for providing the launch facilities. A series of successful launches was conducted from 1964 to 1970 with the aim of reaching orbit and eventually orbiting an operational satellite. The final launch attempt of ELDO's Europa 1 launch vehicle took place at Woomera on 12 June 1970 however the satellite failed to reach orbit. No successful satellite launch was ever achieved by the ELDO and European satellite launch activities then shifted to the French site at Kourou, in French Guiana, which is now home to Ariane launchers.
Since then Australian space-related activities have been virtually nonexistent. The goal of the ASRI is to re-establish Australia as a significant player in the global space industry.
Read more about this topic: Australian Space Research Institute
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