Image 1: SpaceWorks RED vehicle suborbital high-altitude drop test and recovery.
SpaceWorks Enterprises has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Launch at the international Space Symposium.
The Koonibba Test Range, located in South Australia offers over 41,000 square kilometres of uninhabited land (15,800 square miles, an area significantly bigger than the state of Maryland) to accept the returns of space technology from orbit.
“This MoU with SpaceWorks well and truly showcases to the world that Australia is the place for in-space manufactured technology to return to Earth. We have the land, the expertise and a regulatory framework that enables us to accept the returns of this ground-breaking technology for our customers,” said Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp.
“Over the last 5 years, we have been advancing the requisite technologies for our RED vehicles,” said Dr. John Bradford, CEO of SpaceWorks, “We are looking forward to working with Southern Launch and Australia as we take another step towards our planned operational capability.”
SpaceWorks’ RED product line is led by Mr. Tyler Kunsa, Vice-President for Defense and Space Systems. Mr. Kunsa stated “With this next phase in our development process, we will continue to pursue our goal of offering the lowest price payload return capability from orbit. Current delivery services are far too expensive to enable commercial product development and open up the space frontier. We aim to change that.”
Image 2: L-R: John Bradford CEO SpaceWorks, Rebecca Darcey COO Southern Launch and Enrico Palermo Head of the Australian Space Agency.
The MoU will establish a collaborative relationship between SpaceWorks and Southern Launch to investigate facilitating the return of the SpaceWorks RED vehicles to the Koonibba Test Range.
SpaceWorks is currently developing its range of RED vehicles which will enable on-demand cargo return from space.
“Southern Launch provides an end-to-end solution for companies wanting to return their technology from orbit,” Lloyd explains. “We handle everything from regulatory approval to logistics which means our customers can focus on ensuring their technology returns to Earth safely.”
Southern Launch also operates the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex which is located 400 kilometres from the Koonibba Test Range.
The Koonibba Test Range is jointly operated by the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation and Southern Launch.
