World-class spaceports provide a unique offering to international partners

Headquartered in Adelaide, the company owns and operates two complementary spaceports in South Australia that have hosted world-first space missions with many more to come.

The company offers bespoke space mission services for orbital and suborbital launch, hypersonic flight, re-entries from space and range services for advanced system testing at the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex and the Koonibba Test Range.

Southern Launch hosted the world’s first ever commercial spacecraft return to a commercial spaceport with US company, Varda Space Industries. Just ten weeks later, a second spacecraft landed back on Earth at the Koonibba Test Range showcasing the high cadence re-entries possible at Southern Launch sites.

The return of the W-Series capsules proves that manufacturing materials in orbit and returning the materials safely to Earth is not only possible but can become as common as space launch. It’s a giant leap forward in an emerging industry that will ultimately benefit everyone on Earth through improved health and materials science, with South Australia at the heart of this global industry.

The achievement is the result of significant year-long efforts by Austrade and the South Australian Government, starting with company introductions and concluding with a treaty-level Australia-US Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA).

Invest SA assisted Southern Launch through state government planning and approval processes, and has helped the company make connections with customers nationally and internationally, by working with the department’s international office network. This has enabled the creation of a new industry sector in South Australia, with export opportunities and the expansion of our state’s economy into low-Earth orbit.