The Northern Territory Government is committed to accelerating growth in the Territory’s space industry and capabilities - connecting Territory industry with the Australian and global space economy.
The Territory’s geographic location and climatic conditions provides significant advantages for key infrastructure and services for the global space industry, with competitive advantages for:
- Launch services of space vehicles to all orbits
- Ground stations
- Launch and recovery of high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS)
- Earth observation.
Key insights of our space opportunities
250+ days
of clear skies a year, from the Central Australia region
12 degrees
south of the equator
The Territory’s advantage
- Commercial space launch facility, offering scalable end-to-end launch services to all orbits
- Dedicated Space Industry Precinct
- Clear skies 250+ days a year, from the Central Australia region with low light pollution and limited noise interference
- Ideal wind conditions for stratospheric balloon launch.
Ground stations in the Territory
The Territory’s clear skies, low light pollution and fibre internet network are driving investment in Territory ground station infrastructure.
The Top End region is emerging as a hub for ground station infrastructure. OneWeb has chosen Darwin as the location for one of its 3 Australian gateway ground stations.
In Alice Springs in Central Australia, the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CfAT) offers Ground Stations as a Service (GSaaS) and has multiple sites available for additional ground segment infrastructure projects at it's Space Industry Precinct.
The precinct hosts the facilities of Geoscience Australia, European space company ArianeGroup and US multinational Viasat. CfAT Satellite Enterprises is highly skilled in the installation and maintenance of ground station facilities, and the ideal partner for any operator considering a new ground station facility in Central Australia.
To find out more and contact Centre for Appropriate Technology:
High-altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS)
The Northern Territory Government recognises the potential of Alice Springs as the headquarters of HAPS launch, research and development in the southern hemisphere and is seeking to support the growth of innovative technology industries.
The region has a long history in high altitude ballooning with NASA, JAXA and CNES conducting over 120 launches.
Alice Springs embodies the characteristics conducive for safe and efficient launch and recovery of HAPs vehicles with:
- low population and low vegetated terrain
- clear skies and ideal wind conditions
- proximity to experienced local suppliers.
Earth observation
The Northern Territory plays an important role in the Australian and international ecosystem, hosting key ground stations and Calibration and Validation (CalVal) of earth observation (EO) infrastructure.
Geoscience Australia’s Alice Springs ground station regularly downlinks raw EO data directly from Landsat 7 & 8, NOAA, Terra, Aqua and Suomi NPP satellites which forms the foundation for development of key EO products and solutions.
Territory company Maitec established the North Australian Satellite Validation Facility in Litchfield National Park in partnership with ACRI-ST, the European Commission, European and German space agencies, and universities of Southampton and Valencia.
Geoscience Australia has identified a significant opportunity to expand the Territory’s footprint in the EO / CalVal space, including the potential for a dedicated space park in Alice Springs.
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Major project status
Local Jobs Fund
Territory Infrastructure Loans
National Reconstruction Fund Corporation
The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility
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