Woomera Test Range - History

History

Germany's use of V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets during World War II prompted the British to establish their own rocket testing program. However, the density of population in the United Kingdom made testing risky, so the British turned to Australia, asking for a site with a long testing corridor containing minimal population. The two nations joined in the Australian-Anglo Joint Project, a Commonwealth weapons design and test program established in 1946. Surveying of sites for the test range and its supporting township were carried out by Len Beadell during 1947 in South Australia's Far North. Australia was responsible for providing the testing facilities, support personnel, and most of the funding, while the United Kingdom supplied most of the scientific equipment and personnel, and in addition to its financial contribution, paid for the weapons being used. The name of the facility, and the supporting town of Woomera, came from the Aboriginal spear-throwing device. At its peak, the range had an area of 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi), most of which was in South Australia, but included a satellite range in north-west Western Australia. This was later scaled back to a total area of 127,000 square kilometres (49,000 sq mi); still the largest land-based weapons test range in the world.

Facilities at Salisbury, South Australia supported the design and testing of many weapons trialled at Woomera. Weapons designed by the Joint Project and tested at Woomera include the Sea Wolf, Rapier, Sea Dart, and Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles, the Blue Steel nuclear stand-off missile, the Malkara anti-tank missile, the Ikara anti-submarine missile, and the GAF Jindivik drone aircraft. Missile testing commenced in 1949. The Joint Project ran until 1980; the winding back of the Blue Streak ballistic missile project during the 1960s and the lack of British interest in testing Australian-designed weapons led the British to withdraw from the program.

After the cancellation of the Joint Project, the range was effectively abandoned by the Australian government, although the land remained in government hands. The town of Woomera, which was originally established to support the testing facilities, instead turned to supporting the nearby joint Australia-United States ground station for space-based surveillance, Nurrungar. The surveillance facility closed in 1999, around the same time the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and the RAAF's Aircraft Research and Development Unit identified the old testing range's potential, particularly as it was one of the few sites in the world where over-the-horizon weapons testing was feasible. The range is currently used for Australian Defence Force trials of missiles and aircraft weapons, and access is leased to foreign militaries and private companies for their own testing of weapons systems, rockets, and drone aircraft. As of the end of 2009, there were up to ten different tests occurring on the range daily, and bookings for access had been made as far in advance as 2023. The increase in interest from other parties prompted the Australian government to mark $500 million in funding for Woomera in May 2009, to update tracking systems and other infrastructure.

In June 2010, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa landed on the Woomera test range after visiting the asteroid 25143 Itokawa.