Page 38 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2019

SPACE
L AUNCH
“A spaceport with an ability to rapidly replace
small satellites in low earth orbit also has the ability to offset the risk to communication and navigation satellites posed by adversary anti-satellite capabilities.”
NASA VIA ASPI
years, and they’re all going to low earth or- bit with a limited lifespan, so they need to be continually replaced,” Gilmour said.
Location, location, location
ELA, on the other hand, intends to reduce cost by capitalising on Australia’s proximity to the equator.
“It’s a significant point,” ELA CEO Carley Scott said to ADM. “It gives us an internationally competitive position because if you’re within 15 degrees either side of the equator, you get extra rotation- al velocity from the ground speed of the Earth. So it’s less fuel and more payload per mission.
“We’ve got the low risks of a remote loca- tion, but it’s a mining town so there’s a deep water port that’s already established, city quality airport, main township, roads, and fibre optic cable.
“Ideally we’d be doing launches into space next year.”
Defence, of course, has taken interest. A spaceport with an ability to rapidly replace small satellites in low earth orbit also has the ability to offset the risk to communica-
tion and navigation satellites posed by ad- versary anti-satellite capabilities.
“They’re interested in tactically respon- sive space technology,” Gilmour said. “The ability to send satellites up on short notice. They’re telling us what they need – 24 to 48 hours’ responsiveness for communications and earths observation capabilities. Noth- ing on EW as yet.”
All this, however, could be cut short by a proposed government plan to charge launch providers $250,000 for a license, potentially per launch.
“There’s been strong pushback from the industry,” Gilmour said. “Other countries charge nothing. It means we’d shift a good whack of our business to launch from over- seas. We’re already in talks with the Kennedy Space Centre, there’s no regulatory bottle- neck for us to do that through a US subsid- iary. We’d have no hesitation to go there.”
“The cost recovery model that govern- ment has put to us is not appropriate for the state of industry development in Australia,” Scott told ADM. “If [the cost] is put forward as it was proposed initially, it will inhibit growth. It means we’re less competitive than
overseas, where they don’t have those fees. “It’s partly because they’re not scaled – there’s no tie to how to deliver a quality out- come within the fees proposed. To have fees like that put in to launch services in Austra-
lia would be a considerable concern.”
Government support
Should the legislation go ahead, Australia’s unique advantages for prospective launch sites may not be enough to off-set the pro- hibitive license costs. Start-ups looking to put satellites into orbit may find NZ to be a more attractive market.
Rocket Lab, facilitated by legislative sup- port from Wellington, has already con- ducted launches from the North Island and could easily lure Australian space compa- nies across the Tasman.
“The NZ government played an impor- tant role in creating a modern, forward- thinking regulatory framework that aims to enable a strong space economy,” Sandy Tirtey, Rocket Lab's Director of Business Development Australia, said.
“The key to providing better access to space is launch frequency. Launch Complex 1 in NZ offers clear skies and seas, as well as a wide range of inclinations from sun- synchronous through to 39 degrees, and site is licensed for up to 120 launches per year - which is more launch availability than you can get in some entire countries.
“We're seeing some truly innovative sat- ellite technology coming out of Australia. With a proven launch vehicle and an estab- lished launch site just next door, it's never been easier for Australian innovators, re- searchers and educational institutions to get their technology to orbit.”
38 | April 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au