It is the first NASA rocket to be launched from Australia since 1995.
–
Sydney:
NASA’s first-ever launch from a commercial site outside the United States took off in the Australian outback late Sunday, in a “historic” moment for the country’s space industry.
In the first of three planned launches from the Arnhem Space Center, the rocket, using similar technology to the Little Hubble telescope, shot about 350 kilometers into the night sky.
“It’s a momentous occasion, particularly for us as a company, but historic for Australia,” Michael Jones, CEO of Equatorial Launch Australia, told AFP before the flight took off.
Jones, whose company owns and operates the launch site in Australia’s far north, called the site a “next tip” for the country’s space industry and said the opportunity to work with NASA is a milestone for the country’s commercial space companies.
After a series of rain and wind delays, the suborbital sounding rocket took to the skies to examine X-rays emitted by the Alpha Centauri A and B systems.
After the rocket peaked, the rocket’s payload was scheduled to acquire data on star systems before parachuting back to Earth.
According to NASA, the launch offers a unique insight into distant systems and new opportunities for scientists.
“We’re excited to be able to launch important scientific missions from the southern hemisphere and to see targets we can’t launch from the United States,” said Nikki Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division in Washington, DC announcing the mission.
Jones said the unique location made preparations difficult, with years of work to get regulatory approval and the need to barge the missiles to the launch site – about a 28-hour journey from Darwin in northern Australia.
“I think the team will be a great relief from what has been done,” he said.
But as the next July 4 launch date nears, the downtime will be short-lived.
“We have to dust ourselves off, take a day off and then come back to that to prepare for the next launch because it’s just as important.”
It’s the first NASA rocket to be launched from Australia since 1995, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the project as the start of a “new era” for the country’s space industry.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by the NDTV crew and was released from a syndicated feed.)
–
