Western Australia in Space
Western Australia has a surprisingly long association with space communications and research.
The reasons for choosing a WA site range from geographical location, political stability and allegiance, technical expertise, to wide-open spaces free from radio pollution.
1. Talgarno (& Giles Weather Station)
1950s: at down-range end of Woomera Rocket Range. Some minor rocket firings occurred at Talgarno (Eighty Mile Beach); midway between Port Hedland and Broome. The Giles Weather Station is at mid-range; near the border with South Australia and the Northern Territory.
2. NASA Muchea Tracking Station
1960-63: at Muchea just north of Perth to support Mercury manned-space missions.
3. Naval Communications Station Harold H E Holt
1963-present: at North West Cape, Exmouth under joint US/Australia control.
The station provided very-low-frequency (VLFF) communications to below-surface submarines via the United States Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS. Australia assumed full control of the ststion in 1992.
4. NASA Carnarvon Space Tracking Station
1963-75 - Gemini, Apollo, & Skylab manned-space missions - Goddard R&RR scientific missions - Solar Particle Alert Network (SPAN) telescopes, Riometer & Jupiter Monitor for research and support of the manned-space program - FPQ-6 Radar supporting all the above launched vehicles and various defence and interplanetary missions providing precision orbital data. It also supported various balloon programs and CSIRO’s research into the territorial habits of Wedge-tailed Eagles.
5. WRE HAD Rocket Experiments
1964-65; a series of rocket launches were conducted at Carnarvon and nearby Quobba Station simultaneously with launches from Woomera to support high altitude atmosphere research. The Western Australian launches were tracked by the Carnarvon Space Tracking Station.
6. Darwin
1965-68; at Larrakeyah Point; an occasional Goddard Range and Range Rate (GRARR) site operated by a visiting team from the NASA Carnarvon Space Tracking Station.
7. Carnarvon OTC Earth Station
1966-1987; OTC-1 (Casshorn ‘sugar-scope’) contracted to NASA to support manned-space program; OTC-2 (dish) to support satellite communications & NASA releasing OTC-1 for command, control, and tracking of geosynchronous communications satellite under contract to Intellsat Corporation. From 1976 OTC supported emergency command & telemetry on several NASA missions and with an additional dish and two VHF antennas was contracted to support the ESA program culminating in Giotto – the Halley’s Comet mission.
8. Lancelin: Total Solar Eclipse
1974
9. Yatharraga
1975-present; (formerly Yarragadee) – nr Mingenew. MOBLAS5, a NASA Satellite Laser Ranging Station, is now managed by AUSLIG. In 1975 a Teltrac antenna (ex CRO) was installed at Yaragadee to support the NASA-USSR Apollo-Soyuz manned-mission.
10. Gnangarra Earth Station (OTC)
1987-present; near Perth. Improved satellite communication technology enabled OTC to relocate close to Perth making the Carnarvon station redundant. When the Carnarvon station was closed, OTC continued to support ESA at Gnangarra until ESA built its own station at New Norcia
11. Kojarena Defence Signals Intelligence Station
1993-present; near Geraldton; an ADSCS Defence Signals Intelligence Station, part of ECHELON, a US signals intelligence and analysis network. An expansion announced in February 2007 will include the new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)facility. This will lead to a more active role for Kojarena.
12. Lockridge Earth Station (Optus)
1993-present; near Perth; primarily for domestic communication.
13. Golden Valley Observatory
2001-present; at Lower Chittering, near Perth. An ex-CRO UHF Troposcatter Communications 10-m dish has been reassembled at the observatory for the ‘Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence’ (SETI) project. The search is conducted by volunteers of the Western Australian Radio Observatory group in association with Astronomy Group of Western Australia.
14. ESA Tracking Station
2002-present; at New Norcia, near Perth. The European Satellite Agency (ESA) built its first 30-m dish at New Norcia to support deep-space projects notably Rosetta to explore Mars. It is manned by a small team and is largely remotely controlled from ESA Control in Germany.
15. Murchison Radio Telescope
Proposed; at Boolardy Station, west of Meekatharra, midway between the North West Coastal Highway and the Great Northern Highway. The WA government plans to establish a 25 sq. km. radio astronomy park at Boolardy. It hopes this decision will strengthen the Australian bid to win the A$ 2 billion 17-nation international SKA project currently narrowed down to two locations – Boolardy, Western Australia and Cape Province, South Africa. A final decision on the location of the SKA is expected by the end of 2010.
