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An Australian company aiming to build a spaceport in Queensland has begun testing a new plan to launch satellites from a C-130J Super Hercules.
Space Centre Australia said its deal with NASA will allow it to begin trialling the ambitious project at the space agency’s legendary Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
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It comes after Virgin Orbit in 2022 unveiled a similar ambition to turn Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport into a “horizontal launch” spaceport, before the firm collapsed following the failure of its first landmark launch in the UK.
As part of the new agreement, SCA will conduct inert, or non-propellant, flight testing in the US and take advantage of Wallops airfield operations, support, and NASA safety analysis services.
“This agreement is a major validation of our air-launch concept using the C-130J and enables us to test, refine, and prove our systems in a world-class environment,” James Palmer, SCA’s chief executive, said.
“More importantly, it reinforces our commitment to building enduring partnerships that strengthen both regional and global space ecosystems.”
The proposed horizontal launch plan – named Project Karman Line after the starting point of space – would see a rocket sit on a special cradle inside a cargo aircraft, such as the Hercules.
At 20,000 feet, a back door would open, and a parachute would pull a payload, up to 250kg, out of the aircraft. After the rocket falls, it will self-ignite and start a trajectory to low-Earth orbit.
The plan significantly differs from Virgin Orbit’s, which carried a larger 500kg payload under the wing of a repurposed Boeing 747 and dropped it directly down without a parachute.
Orbit ceased all operations in 2023 following the failure of its landmark launch in Cornwall, south-west England, earlier that year.
Space Centre Australia also believes its testing program sets the stage for a future expansion in the US.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison, now the business’s chairman, called the agreement with NASA a key milestone.
“Our work at Wallops Island will not only showcase our growing technical capabilities but will also accelerate progress toward establishing Australia’s premier heavy-lift launch facility in Cape York,” he said.
Palmer, meanwhile, told The Australian that customers are already lined up from both Australia and the US.
“One particular customer has satellites that work in the communications and conservation area,” he said. “Those particular satellites also do remote bushfire monitoring. That’s a really important customer to us.
“There are other customers that work in the surveillance area as well that want to look at constellation deployments – launching lots of satellites into low earth orbit for surveillance and reconnaissance.”
NASA’s legendary Wallops facility is used for technology development and testing. Founded in 1945, the site conducts upwards of 50 operational science and technology missions worldwide annually, launching on orbital and suborbital rockets as well as scientific balloons.
Space Centre’s Australia’s James Palmer and Scott Morrison will be among the headliners at our Australian Space Summit in May, alongside Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer Jr, the CEO of the Virginia Spaceport Authority.
