Arnhem Space Centre to be base for French rockets
French rockets are set to blast off from the Arnhem Space Centre from 2026 in a multi-year, multi-launch deal with Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA).
The agreement, made at the World Space Business Week conference in Paris, will see French rocket company Sirius Space Services (Sirius) take up residency at the spaceport in the East Arnhem region of Australia’s Northern Territory from 2025.
The Territory's new role as a space hub continues with the development and test flights of SIRIUS 1 in 2026, followed by launches of the larger SIRIUS 13 (800kg payload capacity) in 2027 with the capacity to scale up over time to 18 launches per year.
ELA’s Arnhem Space Centre is a commercial space launch facility providing efficient launch, tracking and recovery options for government, research, and commercial customers.
Three NASA rocket launches blasted off from the Arnhem Space Centre in June and July 2022,
The new deal emphasises the desirability and market fit of launching from the Arnhem Space Centre which is located at 12° south of the equator, has full range of orbit and inclinations, plus regional location with a services hub and minimal air traffic.
It also highlights the cutting-edge advanced engineering and technology solutions and launch service provided by ELA.