The Australian Space Agency has awarded Australia’s second launch facility licence to Southern Launch for its Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.
The licence will enable the company to establish a sub-orbital rocket testing facility at Whalers Way, 680km West of Adelaide. If tests are successful, the site could be used for much larger orbital rocket launches in the future.
The Whalers Way site will initially support a test launch campaign for up to three suborbital rockets. Data will be collected during those launches to measure environmental impacts to assist in determining the site’s viability as a possible launch location for future suborbital and orbital launches.
The launch facility licence for Whalers Way follows the granting of Australia’s first launch facility licence for Southern Launch’s Koonibba Test Range in March 2021.
