NASA has successfully completed the first rocket launch from a commercial space facility outside the United States. A 13-meter rocket exploded on Monday from a remote location in Australia.
A 13-meter ballistic rocket took off from the newly constructed Arnhem Space Center in the Northern Territory of Australia on Monday. Due to strong winds and heavy rain, takeoff was delayed by about 2 hours. The
launch was the first in Australia in over 25 years and was the first of three NASA missions scheduled from the site.
Researchers hope that the information gathered from the flight will help us understand how light from stars affects the habitability of nearby planets. They say that this kind of research can only be done in the Southern Hemisphere.
The unmanned flight scanned the Milky Way for a short time, measured X-ray radiation, and analyzed the structure of the stars.
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, told Australian television that the launch is part of a project to boost the domestic space industry.
"When you build a satellite, you have to go abroad to do it. The fact that you see this accumulation of launches from Australia is the last of a kind of puzzle. It's a piece of. As you know, if you have a very large industry in this space field, yes, yes, the first group we want to do it, want to be part of the story is NASA. So, as you know, it gives you the credibility of the street, if you say it's on the right track from what you're thinking, "he said.
The Arnhem Space Center is the only commercially owned equatorial launch facility in the world.
The center is built on Aboriginal land. Tribal elders hope that this project will provide jobs and opportunities for young indigenous peoples.
According to officials, the center is "a combination of one of the oldest cultures in the world and some of the most advanced technologies to date."
The next NASA rocket will be launched in the Northern Territory on July 4, and the third will take off on July 12.
Approximately 75 NASA staff visited northern Australia on all three launches. ..
Australia is working to improve its capabilities in space. This year, it announced a new defense agency that would work to counter China and Russia's ambitions in space. Together with the United States, both countries are reported to have tested weapons that could destroy satellites.
The Australian Space Agency was established in July 2018 to "support the growth and transformation" of the country's space industry.
