Black Sky Aerospace (also known as BSA) is an Australian private

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

company, headquartered in Jimboomba,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. BSA specialises in payload delivery systems through proprietary propulsion systems, componentry and vehicles. Additionally, BSA provides access to calibration and simulation systems.

History

In 2021, Black Sky Aerospace has welcomed the Federal Government's allocation of AU$678,487 for the company to manufacture Responsive Common Use Booster (RCUB) propellant for commercial use. Black Sky CEO Blake Nikolic said the project received grant funding from the Australian Space Agency's (ASA)

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

Supply Chain Capability Improvement grant opportunity.

Milestones

Australia's first commercial rocket launch

On 21 November 2018, Black Sky Aerospace successfully conducted Australia's first commercial payload rocket launch from the nation's only sub-orbital launch facility west of

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people. Geography Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...

, Australia. This sub-orbital mission utilised a Sighter190 research rocket to carry experimental payloads and instruments to an altitude of approximately 20,000-ft. The minister for state development, manufacturing, infrastructure and planning, Cameron Dick was present to press the launch button.

Rocket motor manufacture

In September 2019, Black Sky Aerospace was granted approval by regulators to begin manufacturing solid rocket motors. Solid rocket motors (SRM's) are the fuel (propellant) that boosts rockets in to space, such as the boosters on the space shuttle and is the preferred fuel to use by many space launch companies due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. The company will be the first manufacturer of its kind in Australia and will be able to provide access to solid fuels for orbital and sub-orbital launch vehicles.

Priority access to Arnhem Space Centre

In October 2019, Black Sky Aerospace gained priority access to the new Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA)

Arnhem Space Centre 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-orbi ...

near Nhulunbuy in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. Black Sky Aerospace Director Blake Nikolic said priority access to the Arnhem Space Centre would provide his customers with the benefits of launching close to the equator. Equatorial Launch Australia operates the Arnhem Space Centre, near Nhulunbuy, and as of 2019, planned to host

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

's first launch from a foreign non-government-owned site. The launch, of an astrophysics-oriented sounding rocket, successfully occurred on the morning of 27 June 2022, with a second scheduled for 4 July, and a third later in the month.

Products

* Sighter190 research rocket

References

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External links

Official website
Private spaceflight companies Aerospace companies of Australia Companies based in Queensland