Frustrated.

[den]

How the hell does Iran have an active satellite launch programme, and Australia doesn't?

We aren't in the 50s now. We don't need approval from colonial powers. Why can't we do this?

Comments

[psaakyrn.livejournal.com]

Because you've biological lifeforms which could constitute as weapons of war?

(more on topic though, I've no idea you actually need an active satellite programme... though there should be some international watchdog to keep track of all the space junk we're throwing up there...)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

You mean you don't want us to launch a selection of our snakes and spiders into Singapore?

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

Part of it is probably due to the southern location of the continent.
It's harder to get stuff to a good orbit from that far south.

Other than that - apathy perhaps?

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

Check where Northern Queensland is ;)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I think it's part "Why would we waste money on that," part "They're a lot more advanced than us," and mostly apathy.

I'm at 32S, about the same latitude as Savannah GA. Cape Canaveral is 28N, about the same as Brisbane (28S). That means 2/3 of Australia is closer to the equator than Florida. I think we could build a bloody good space port at that latitude.

[kreggan.livejournal.com]

Because Australia is fed data from the US satellites, and is willing to accept that the US will deny access to certain imagery, because they don't often do so.

[the-starshadow.livejournal.com]

I am all for Australia having it's own limited space program, but putting up satellites isn't really a big deal. It's a lot cheaper and more reliable to build your own satellites and then hand it over to a commercial company to put it up. Having an active satellite launch program isn't really that interesting. The reason Iran did it is to try and get some international bragging rights. I would think that Australia doesn't need that sorta attention anymore.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Because it's cheaper to buy space on american or European launch vehicles. Which isn't an option for Iran. [or China either, it's point of national pride with India and Japan thinks they can do it better, they probably can too.]

What I want to know is that given Australia's hundreds of thousands of square miles of desert full of bugger-all, why hasn't some one built a launch facility down there? I mean, there's one in New Guinea for gods sakes!! Which apart from it's equatorial location, is about the last place anyone would choose to build anything, let alone a space port.

Someone should revive the Woomera facility.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Woomera would be ideal. It's already in the middle of a military prohibited zone the size of the UK. There is a major highway AND rail link just outside town. And it's a little closer to the equator that Canaveral.

[camstone.livejournal.com]

No worries.

I am betting that there will be a program coming down that way reasonably soon... I mean... how hard is it to set up a launch pad?

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera_Instrumented_Range">There is already one here. A small one, but there used to be Redstone launch pads. It's in the middle of a restricted area the size of England.

I see Kistler is planning on using Woomera as their main launch site, and there are rumours that Virgin Galactic will set up a second spaceport there.

[quen-elf.livejournal.com]

Your colonial power doesn't have an active satellite launch programme either (and, er, I don't think we have done since it was in... er... Australia).

Who needs it when you can use European (or American or Russian, whatever) launchers? Unnecessary to duplicate the effort really...

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

UK is at least part of a space programme, and provides components, equipment and satellites. Australia's contribution: tracking. And relaying data. That's what we did in the 50s and 60s! We should be doing more.