I’ve been researching Australia’s contribution to the Space Age for an article to be published in Crikey today. Part of that narrative seems to be the continual announcements of plans for a Spaceport which never come to anything.
- June 1989: The Cape York Space Agency announces that launches from its Temple Bay facility will commence in 1992.
- Sept 1997: International Resources Corp announces it’ll break ground on its spaceport near Weipa in October.
- June 2001: Science Minister Nick Minchin announces a $52M government contribution to a spaceport on Christmas Island to target the Asian satellite launch market. The first launch is expected in 2003.
And those three are just a taste! When will this spaceport actually happen?
50 years old tomorrow, the Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik 1. Australia’s current role in space is a set of commemorative postage stamps. Wow.
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