4 minute read
Australia is becoming a thriving spaceport ecosystem
By Anthony Weymouth, Head of Technology, Defence and Space – Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
The economic benefits are endless, as Australia becomes a testbed for new space vehicles and the first commercial return to a commercial site in February 2025, with the return of the W-2 Varda space capsule, housing in-space manufactured pharmaceuticals.
Over the past 20 years the transformation to NEW Space has occurred seeing a shift to commercial activity in LEO, (Low Earth Orbit), the concept of pointto-point travel and commercial returns.
With a total of 873 space craft launched globally over Q4, 2024 according to Bryce Tech, and 44 orbital launches from the US mostly by commercial companies, the space sector and launch activity will proliferate into the future.
As the airline industry saw rapid growth in the 1930’s expanding (*airandspace.si.edu) from 6000 passengers to 1.2 million passengers in just eight years and historically control over ports such as Sydney or Fremantle, conferred economic dominance, channelling trade, wealth, and innovation. Spaceports will assume this role in the future, serving as gateways that determine the flow of resources and influence in an interconnected world.
Australia is uniquely positioned to pioneer this transition, and this shift is happening now.
From curing diseases, manufacturing new materials, reducing flight times across the Atlantic to a couple of hours and the movement of cargo in reduced timeframes, Australia is positioned to be a leader in orbital returns representing the future of logistics.
Launching payloads into orbit then returning with precision to designated sites, akin to aircraft landing on runways. It promises unparalleled speed and global reach—delivering cargo, data, or critical supplies anywhere within hours, far surpassing the limitations of terrestrial transport systems. Reusability reduces costs significantly, establishing space as a viable and efficient logistics conduit. A new era of modern manufacturing, enabling creation and delivery of precision materials or biological medications with improved efficacy. Though initially modest in scope, its scalability is evident: a few successful operations will expand into a robust network supporting advanced industrial ecosystems. Australia must recognise and seize this opportunity.
At the same time, SpaceX launched the eighth test flight of its Super Heavy booster and Starship vehicles, with the booster being caught again by the launch tower as they progress towards rapid reuse. Both the Super Heavy booster and Starship are designed to be fully re-usable. Starship could carry tons of cargo to any point on the globe in about 60 minutes: back to Starbase in Texas, a remote Pacific Island, or Australia.
While private companies have driven each of these advances, governments, including the Australian government, have also played an indispensable role in commercialising space. In Australia, the Space Agency has written and re-written rules making launch and returns both safe and commercially sustainable. Together with Austrade and DFAT, it drove negotiation of the Australia-US Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA). Simultaneously, Austrade has attracted global space companies to Australia and helped Australian space companies find global customers and investors.
Austrade seeks to construct a global space industry in Australia. It recognises, first, that space is now a leading economic sector that plays a role in the world’s economy that is similar (and related) to the role of semiconductors over the past 50 years. Second, it recognises that, by limiting air, marine and radio frequency traffic that can compete with space operations, Australia’s sparse population and continental geography make it humanity’s best place to get to and from space.
Recent successes with Varda returning to Southern Launch’s Koonibba test range and as Gilmour Space Technologies approaches their maiden orbital launch, spotlight developments that have been gathering momentum in the two decades since SpaceX launched the first commercial rocket to orbit. Spaceports will become another piece of the critical infrastructure that links production in one place to consumers in another.
Our expansive, sparsely populated interior provides ideal landing zones, minimising risk to infrastructure or populations. Coupled with a stable political environment and established technological expertise, the nation possesses a rare combination of assets. The southern hemisphere’s uncluttered airspace further enhances its suitability, offering a competitive advantage unavailable to most global counterparts in the near term.
Australia must harness the opportunity to realise launch originating from and subsequent return of commercial spacecraft to the same continent. After all we’ve boundless plains to share.
