The Koonibba Test Range is a rocket test range near the town of

Koonibba Koonibba is a locality and an associated Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal community in South Australia located about northwest of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about northwest of the municipal seat in Ceduna, So ...

in the far west of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Rockets are launched to the north, with a range of over the Yumbarra Conservation Park and Yellabinna Wilderness Protection Area. Koonibba Test Range was reported in 2020 to be the world's largest privately owned rocket test range and the world's first permitted by an indigenous community to be launched from their land. The range allows companies, universities,

space agencies This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six government space agencies ...

and other organisations to pay for their rockets to be taken to the site, launched, and rockets and payloads to be recovered.

History

In 2019 and 2020, a private space company, Southern Launch, consulted with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation before developing the test range site, which occupies of uninhabited conservation park about north-west of Ceduna. It is to be used for space research and launching and recovering rockets. The advantage of the site is that the land on which the rockets may be recovered is vast. Members of the local community have been employed to set up and operate the range. DEWC Systems, an

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

-based company, conducted two launches at the range in September 2020. A rocket containing a small replica

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

was scheduled to be launched on 15 September 2020, with a second launch on 19 September. The first launch failed, but both launches were successful on the morning of 19 September 2020. It was aimed at collecting information to develop a new technology consisting of tiny cube-shaped

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

s, known as

cubesat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSat ...

s, for

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

. The training and employment opportunities were welcomed by the community. Southern Launch's

Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex is a proposed rocket-launching facility operated by Southern Launch at Whalers Way, in the locality of Sleaford near Port Lincoln on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. History of the project Southern Launch es ...

, at the tip of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named af ...

, was planned before Koonibba, but was under construction.

References

Rocket launch sites Eyre Peninsula {{Rocketry-stub