CANBERRA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- A rocket launcher capable of sending satellites into space will be built in South Australia (SA), Premier of South Australia Steven Marshall announced on Tuesday.
The dedicated launch site would be built at Whalers Way, 275 kilometers west of Adelaide, with construction to begin in 2019, he said.
The Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, to be built by Southern Launch, will significantly boost Adelaide's chances of being chosen as the home for the headquarters of Australia's national space agency.
"This venture will serve a growing global demand for polar launch facilities, and further positions SA as a prominent player in the space industry national and internationally," Marshall told News Corp Australia on Tuesday.
The announcement came only days before the Australian government was expected to provide details about the national space agency.
"I'd like to congratulate the team at Southern Launch on this fantastic achievement," Marshall said.
"It's a venture that will add to the reputation of our local space industry and will have an enormous impact on our economy more broadly."
The Space Industry Association's sixth Space Forum will open in Adelaide on Wednesday.
Details about the space agency are expected to be announced at the forum or at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on December 12.
Lloyd Damp, chief executive of Southern Launch, said that the launch site would make SA an attractive destination for other hi-tech companies.
"I honestly believe that SA has the ingredients to drive advancements in the space industry on the world stage," Damp said.
"Now we need to identify the strengths in each other and work together to leverage them."
