Australia FactbookDraft
November 2026 Edition
Australia Factbook · National chapter / AUS
Space
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2021 Factbook flag mirror; image identity has not been individually audited. Source.
Last updated: October 29, 2026
Sections in Space
Space
Space agency/agencies:166
Space launch site(s):167
Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex (commercial site, South Australia); Arnhem Space Center (commercial site, Northern Territory); Bown Orbital Spaceport (commercial site, North Queensland) (2025)¶
Space program overview:168
has a history of involvement in space-related activities, including astronomy, rockets, satellites, and space tracking; develops, builds, operates, and tracks satellites, including communications, remote sensing (RS), and navigational, often in partnership with other countries; develops other space technologies, including communications, RS capabilities, and telescopes; encouraging growth in domestic commercial space-industry sector, including satellite launch vehicles; cooperates with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of China, the ESA, individual ESA member states, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, and the US; co-leads the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and hosts one of the telescopes for the international Square Kilometer Array radio telescope (2025)¶
Key space-program milestones:169
1960 - built first space-tracking station outside the US¶
1967 - first domestically built satellite (WRSEA) launched on a US rocket from Australian test range¶
1981 - commissioned first national satellite system¶
1996 - first Australian in space on US Space Shuttle¶
2021 - announced intent to provide a robotic lunar lander for US Artemis project¶
2022 - launched a US NASA rocket from a commercial launch site; joint Australia-US space surveillance telescope based in Western Australia became operational¶
2025 - first attempted launch of Australian-designed and -manufactured orbital launch vehicle failed to reach orbit¶
Notes & sources
- Space agency/agencies. Reference edition; observation: 2025. Field last updated: not supplied; profile fallback: 2025-12-04 09:22:13 -0500 (not a field revision date); needs review. Reference source. Edition retrieval date: not supplied (retrieval only). ↩
- Space launch site(s). Reference edition; observation: 2025. Field last updated: not supplied; profile fallback: 2025-12-04 09:22:13 -0500 (not a field revision date); needs review. Reference source. Edition retrieval date: not supplied (retrieval only). ↩
- Space program overview. Reference edition; observation: 2025. Field last updated: not supplied; profile fallback: 2025-12-04 09:22:13 -0500 (not a field revision date); needs review. Reference source. Edition retrieval date: not supplied (retrieval only). ↩
- Key space-program milestones. Reference edition; observation: dates as stated in text. Field last updated: not supplied; profile fallback: 2025-12-04 09:22:13 -0500 (not a field revision date); needs review. Reference source. Edition retrieval date: not supplied (retrieval only). ↩