A History Of Woomera

A HISTORY OF WOOMERA

Woomera came into existence as a consequence of Britain's defence requirements following World War II. It needed a large, remote area in which to test new weapons systems. Various sites were considered, including one in Canada. In the end, Australia's vast and virtually unpopulated inland won the day, and the Long Range Weapons Establishment (Woomera rocket range) came into existence on 1 April 1947 as a Joint Project between Britain and Australia. The range was surveyed by the legendary Len Beadell and his team.

Woomera's history is one of weapons testing, satellite launches, and tracking of early lunar and planetary spacecraft, as well as the Mercury manned spacecraft. Highlights are listed below and other pages on this web site will give the history of various projects conducted at Woomera.


Map of the Prohibited Areas in red which were once under the control of the Woomera Rocket Range. CLICK on the image for a larger version.	Map of the Prohibited Areas in red currently under the control of the Woomera Rocket Range. CLICK on the image for a larger version.

Date	Milestone
1 Apr. 1947	Long Range Weapons Establishment formed between the United Kingdom and Australia.
24 Apr. 1947	The name Woomera selected for the new town associated with the rocket range.
22 Mar. 1949	First missile launched from Woomera.
13 Feb. 1957	First Skylark rocket launch.
7 Sep. 1958	First Black Knight launch.
5 Jun. 1964	First Europa launch - modified Blue Streak. Launched to the northwest.
24 May 1966	First Europa launch with dummy upper stages and satellite. Flight terminated after 136 seconds. Launched to the north.
29 Nov. 1967	WRESAT 1 satellite launched on a U.S. Redstone rocket. First Australian satellite.
23 April 1969	The decision was announced to build the U.S. Nurrungar Defence satellite monitoring station near Woomera.
12 Jun. 1970	Last Europa launch from Woomera. All stages fired, but the Italian satellite failed to orbit.
28 Oct. 1971	British Prospero satellite launched into orbit on a Black Arrow launch vehicle.
22 Dec. 1972	NASA's Island Lagoon deep space tracking station closed.
Jan. 1982	Woomera village became "derestricted".
Mar. 1991	RAAF's Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) assumed management of the Woomera Prohibited Area and the Woomera Instrumented Range from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
1994	The RAAF handed management of the Woomera Prohibited Area to the Defence Support Centre Woomera, while keeping management of the Woomera Instrumented Range.
1996	The Japanese Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) conducted their Automatic Landing Flight Experiment (ALFLEX) project trials to gather data for a planned Japanese "space shuttle".
1 Oct. 1999	U.S. Nurrungar tracking station closed.

A History of Woomera	Research Missiles	WRESAT	ELDO
Tracking Stations	Range News	Gibber Gabber	Weather
Woomera Village	Woomera Life	Memories of Woomera	Requests

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Copyright © 1997-2001 Mark T. Rigby
(Last updated: 24 October, 2001)

Return to Home Page

Copyright © 1997-2001 Mark T. Rigby (Last updated: 24 October, 2001)

Copyright © 1997-2001 Mark T. Rigby
(Last updated: 24 October, 2001)