SA space company lands big investment
The operator of South Australia’s spaceports has been given some rocket fuel, with the Federal Government’s investment arm injecting millions into the business.
Aerospace company Southern Launch has received $25 million from the Federal Government’s sovereign investment arm and investment group Brindabella & Company, bolstering its operations that help rockets take off and land.
Announced this morning, the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) said the investment would help the company establish a future space manufacturing hub and supply chain business in South Australia.
NRFC hoped it would create new jobs and opportunities within the space industry.
“Southern Launch helped to track the Artemis II lunar mission earlier this year and we are proud to be investing in homegrown pioneers contributing to projects making global history,” NRFC CIO Dr Mary Manning said.
“Southern Launch meets a critical need for rocket launch and re-entry services in the Southern Hemisphere and NRFC investment addresses a global bottleneck in the space industry by securing this sovereign capability for Australia.
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Southern Launch operates services for orbital launch and sub-orbital missions including hypersonic flight and orbital re-entries. It is based in Adelaide and has two spaceports in South Australia at Koonibba and Whalers Way.
“Southern Launch’s ability to design, develop and service spaceport infrastructure combined with proprietary launch and returns software represents the sovereign industrial capability needed to test rockets, drones and other national security technology,” Manning said.
The company currently employs 35 people and hoped to grow its workforce to 185 full time jobs, backed by the NRFC investment.
CEO Lloyd Damp said the investment was “a strong vote of confidence in Australia’s sovereign space capability, and the critical role Southern Launch is playing in enabling the global space economy”.
“With this support, we are scaling infrastructure and capabilities to position Australia as a global leader in launch and re-entry and unlocking new economic opportunities in low-Earth orbit and beyond.”
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