Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Equatorial Launch Australia Chief Commercial Officer Russell Shaw says the NASA rocket launches from East Arnhem this month are huge for the NT, and the country!

Transcript

Equatorial Launch Australia Chief Commercial Officer Russell Shaw says the NASA rocket launches from East Arnhem this month are huge for the NT, and the country! · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But as you've heard throughout the morning, well we do
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: know that the Prime Minister Anthony Alberanezi landed in Darwin
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: where he's signed off on the launch of NASA rockets
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  Speaker 1: from the Northern Territories Arnham Space Center, which is the
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  Speaker 1: first time that NASA rockets are going to be launched
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  Speaker 1: from a commercial facility outside of the United States, and
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  Speaker 1: also the first time that rockets have been launched from
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  Speaker 1: the East Arnham facility. Now joining me on the line
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  Speaker 1: to talk a little bit more about this situation is
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  Speaker 1: Russell Shaw, the Chief commercial Officer at Equatorial Launch Australia.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Russell.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, thanks for having me Anaschak.
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  Speaker 1: It's lovely to have you on the show.
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  Speaker 2: Russell.
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  Speaker 1: When are these rockets going to be launching?
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  Speaker 2: And just a few weeks away? So it's a series
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  Speaker 2: of three rocket launches and our first one will be
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  Speaker 2: in just a few weeks on Sunday, the twenty sixth
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  Speaker 2: of June, late in the evening.
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  Speaker 1: Now I understand that this isn't just exciting for the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory, you know, this is exciting realistically Alia wide
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  Speaker 1: and worldwide.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we are trying to and we're a part of
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  Speaker 2: trying to build a specific launch capability for global space
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  Speaker 2: companies to come and launch their records out of Australia
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  Speaker 2: and the n Space. There is just such a great
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  Speaker 2: place for them to launch, given how close it is
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  Speaker 2: to the equator, which is really important for rocket launch
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  Speaker 2: companies to get their their payloads into space. It's clearly
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  Speaker 2: very remote, so there's no people around, and we've also
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  Speaker 2: got fantastic infrastructure in and around Numbwe which makes the
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  Speaker 2: facility which just works so well.
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  Speaker 1: Russell. For those out there listening, there's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people thinking, what are these scientific suborbital
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  Speaker 1: sounding rockets and what exactly is this going to achieve?
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  Speaker 1: This exercise of launching these rockets going to achieve, So
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  Speaker 1: talk us through that.
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  Speaker 2: What are they? So I'll try and make it as
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  Speaker 2: USI a few times, but effectively they're effectively astrophysics studies
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  Speaker 2: from the Universities of Colorado and Wisconsin in the US,
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  Speaker 2: and they're focusing on the alpha centaury a mb stars,
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  Speaker 2: which are the stars which are closest to us from
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  Speaker 2: and as well as the X rays emanating from the
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  Speaker 2: interstual medium, which is CAW the gases and the partygle
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  Speaker 2: Beteeno stars. So it's really about learning more about the
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  Speaker 2: universe which will help us in in further developing our
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  Speaker 2: understanding of space as a as a globe.
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  Speaker 1: And how big a deal is this for us here
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory because I guess you know, it
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  Speaker 1: sounds almost science fiction like Russell to think that there
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  Speaker 1: are rockets being launched from out near Nullen Boy, But
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  Speaker 1: you know, how big a deal is this for us
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  Speaker 1: here in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's a terrific opportunity for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 2: to showcase to the world that we are ready and
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  Speaker 2: willing to effectively compete for these rocket launchers against government
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  Speaker 2: owned facilities around the world world. And surely as we
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  Speaker 2: look to build out the on Space Center and put
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  Speaker 2: more launch pads in there, we'll be looking to grow
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  Speaker 2: our cadence of recident to serve fifty then and which
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  Speaker 2: clearly we're in substantial economic manifests ins Ma region as
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  Speaker 2: well as tourism.
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  Speaker 1: And I understand this is actually this is going to
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  Speaker 1: be the first NASA rockets launched from Australia since nineteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety five, So it's been quite a while coming.
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  Speaker 2: It has been a long while coming. And these particular
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  Speaker 2: physics studies that they're doing, they have to be done
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  Speaker 2: in the Southern hemisphere just because of where they're coming from.
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  Speaker 2: So it happening oncome coming, But clearly we are looking
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  Speaker 2: and there is an increasing opportunity with so many more
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  Speaker 2: satellites going on into space for all sorts of abuservation,
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  Speaker 2: in connectivity and so forth. This really is a going
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  Speaker 2: market that we can capitalize on as a country and
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  Speaker 2: as the region.
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  Speaker 1: And how many staff are we expecting to be based
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  Speaker 1: here and for what period of time?
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  Speaker 2: Well, right now on the ground in No there's around
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  Speaker 2: seventy five members of the mass team which are busy
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  Speaker 2: assiming their rockets and getting ready to launch. They've also
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  Speaker 2: got another fifteen or so coming from the university in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the professors and all the specialists in these
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  Speaker 2: in these areas. And so it is a pretty large
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  Speaker 2: continent and the town is pretty full from accommodation.
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  Speaker 1: I bet it is a little flace like Null and boy,
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  Speaker 1: I bet it is absolutely bustling and a hive of excitement.
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  Speaker 2: I'd imagine, yes it is. And what's great is that
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  Speaker 2: all though, these these rockets go up into space pretty
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  Speaker 2: quickly for around ten seconds. Once they're about around one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and fifteen years of the sky, which which probably
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  Speaker 2: only fact a hunder second or so, those rockets will
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  Speaker 2: actually be invisible for anyone in talent who's looking to
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  Speaker 2: try and catch an incident.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah right, that was going to be my next question
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  Speaker 1: whether anybody could see. But you will obviously have to
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  Speaker 1: be a null and Boy to be able to see
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  Speaker 1: those rockets.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. We're very the completely commensation perspectively kind of
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  Speaker 2: anyone on the site to the rocket it's being launched.
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  Speaker 1: Russell, Is this just the beginning now when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to rocket launch what you're doing in Nullen Boy? Is
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  Speaker 1: this just the beginning? Can we expect more of these
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  Speaker 1: for the Northern territory.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, this is a stepping stone for us. It's really
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  Speaker 2: the culmination of finishing the first stage of the Island
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  Speaker 2: Space Center in terms of getting our first launch pad
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  Speaker 2: down and our key equipment building. But we're using this
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  Speaker 2: as a standboard and we're talking to a lot of
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  Speaker 2: perspective customers from overseas who are really interested in the
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  Speaker 2: unique benefits that the only space mender can provide to
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  Speaker 2: them and their satellite customers. So, as I said earlier,
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  Speaker 2: we're really looking to build a facility up into something
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  Speaker 2: just probably three to four times beside of what it
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  Speaker 2: currently is, and that will allow us to eventually get
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  Speaker 2: to a point we were launching at least for a
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  Speaker 2: record a week.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what it's really it is very
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  Speaker 1: exciting and it's really very interesting I think for the
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  Speaker 1: North Territory. For a lot of people listening this morning,
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  Speaker 1: they certainly wouldn't have imagined that the Northern Territory was
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  Speaker 1: going to be the location that was best for these
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  Speaker 1: rockets to be launched. So it does sound like it's
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  Speaker 1: a good day. Russell Shaw, the chief commercial Officer at
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  Speaker 1: Equatorial Launch Australia, we really appreciate you having a chat
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  Speaker 1: with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much for good Tom.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you