Woomera Credit - © Mark Wade

After World War II British government recognized the need for a large range to test the incredible array of long-range missile systems then planned. After considering sites in Canada, it was decided that Australia would best meet the projected needs. The Long Range Weapons Establishment was created on 1 April 1947 as a joint British/Australian enterprise. 23 days later the name Woomera (an aboriginal word of axtlaxtl, or spear thrower) was selected for the new town to be built as its administrative center. Woomera town peaked at a population of 6,000 in the 1960's. Thereafter the progressive cancellation of British missile and space projects put Woomera went into sustained decline. However it played a key role in the history of rocketry, including orbital launches or launch attempts by Black Arrow, Sparta, and Europa boosters. By the late 1990's the population was below 1,000, a third of those being Americans working at a Defense Support Program satellite control center. There were hopes that Kistler would use the site for their reusable launch vehicle, but the collapse of that enterprise ended those hopes. In September 14, 1999 SpaceLift Australia announced plans to launch satellite payloads from Woomera using a modified Russian SS-25 missile. A test launch was announced for late 2000. However, as was the case with other Australian schemes to provide Russian launch services, it did not come to pass.

As of 2007 over 518 launches were known to have been made from Woomera since 1957.

• HAD - Latitude: -30.9553 deg. Longitude: 136.5322 deg. HAD launcher

• LA1 - Latitude: -30.9587 deg. Longitude: 136.5037 deg. Used by: S. First Launch: 2002-07-14. Last Launch: 2005-10-09. Number Launches: 2.

• LA2 - Latitude: -30.9433 deg. Longitude: 136.5210 deg. Used by: Aero High, Black Brant, Cockatoo, Corella, HAD, Jaguar, Kookaburra, Long Tom, Lorikeet, Rook, Skylark, Stonechat. First Launch: 1957-02-13. Last Launch: 1995-11-20. Number Launches: 434.

• LA2 D - Latitude: -30.9433 deg. Longitude: 136.5210 deg. Moraba mobile launcher, LA2

• LA2 HRV - Latitude: -30.9433 deg. Longitude: 136.5210 deg. Hypersonic launcher, LA2

• LA2 N - Latitude: -30.9433 deg. Longitude: 136.5210 deg. Nike Launcher, LA2

• LA2 SL - Latitude: -30.9433 deg. Longitude: 136.5210 deg. Skylark launcher, LA2

• LA3 - Latitude: -30.9300 deg. Longitude: 136.5191 deg. Launch Area 3

• LA4 - Latitude: -30.9053 deg. Longitude: 136.5155 deg. Launch Area 4

• LA5A - Latitude: -30.9716 deg. Longitude: 136.4740 deg. Used by: Black Knight. First Launch: 1958-09-07. Last Launch: 1961-02-07. Number Launches: 9. Launch Area 5A

• LA5B - Latitude: -30.9711 deg. Longitude: 136.4763 deg. Used by: Black Arrow, Black Knight. First Launch: 1961-05-09. Last Launch: 1971-10-28. Number Launches: 17. Launch Area 5B

• LA6A - Latitude: -31.0793 deg. Longitude: 136.4458 deg. Used by: Blue Streak, Europa. First Launch: 1964-06-04. Last Launch: 1970-06-12. Number Launches: 10. Launch Area 6A

• LA8 - Latitude: -31.0328 deg. Longitude: 136.4629 deg. Used by: Aerobee, Redstone. First Launch: 1966-11-28. Last Launch: 1977-02-23. Number Launches: 30. Launch Area 8

• LA9 - Latitude: -30.9031 deg. Longitude: 136.4871 deg. Launch Area 9

• MRL - Latitude: -30.9573 deg. Longitude: 136.5332 deg. MRL launcher

1958 December 4 - 01:13 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeolus AL1 Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 78 km (48 mi).

1959? - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1960? - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1960? - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1960 March 23 - 11:20 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeolus AL5 Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1961? - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1961? - Launch Vehicle: Aeolus. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 81 km (50 mi).

1961 November 3 - Launch Vehicle: Europa. Woomera selected for Europa launches. Nine-nation Western European Conference in London announced decision to launch a satellite in mid-1965, using a British Blue Streak first stage, a French Veronique second stage, and a West German third stage, from the Woomera range in Australia.

1963 June 18 - 04:30 GMT - Launch Vehicle: HAT. Ionosphere mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 88 km (54 mi).

1963 October 15 - 15:09 GMT - Launch Vehicle: HAT. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 80 km (49 mi).

1963 October 15 - 19:22 GMT - Launch Vehicle: HAT. Aeronomy mission Agency: WRE. Apogee: 80 km (49 mi).

1976 November 9 - 12:32 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Black Brant. LV Model: Black Brant 5B . Black Brant VB APD-VB-42 Cosmic rays X-ray astronomy mission Agency: NRCC. Apogee: 215 km (133 mi).

2001 October 30 - 02:31 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Terrier. Terrier Mk 70 Orion T-Orion 5A FAILURE: Failure. Hyshot 1 'Hilary' Technology mission Agency: UQU. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). First launch attempt in the HyShot Flight Program. The scramjet payload was to be used to verify pressure measurements made of supersonic combustion in The University of Queensland's T4 shock tunnel by those made in an actual flight. A failure of stabilising fins meant that the rocket fell far short of the planned 330-km apogee and the scramjet experiment was not conducted.

2002 July 30 - 02:05 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Terrier. Hyshot 2 'Hans' Technology mission Agency: UQU. Apogee: 314 km (195 mi). In the second launch of the HyShot program, the Terrier-Orion Mk70 rocket boosted the payload, which remain attached to the second stage Orion motor, toward a planned apogee of 330 km. After peaking at 314 km, the trajectory was designed so that the payload was moving at Mach 7.6 between 35 km and 23 km on the way down, at which point the measurements of supersonic combustion were made. This was claimed to be the first successful test of a scramjet in flight.

2006 March 25 - 03:15 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Terrier. HyShot 3 Agency: UQU. Apogee: 325 km (201 mi). The 100-kg test British-design scramjet engine was boosted to an altitude of 314 km during a 10-minute flight. It and the attached second stage then were re-oriented to point back to the Earth. The scramjet was successfully ignited at a speed of Mach 8 in the tiny six-second window of opportunity shortly before impact.

2006 March 30 - 02:40 GMT - Launch Vehicle: Terrier. Hyshot 4 (JAXA) Agency: UQU. Apogee: 290 km (180 mi). A repeat of the test four days earlier, this time with a Japanese-designed scramjet. The nosecone of the rocket failed to jettison and therefore scramjet ignition was not achieved. The scramjet and second stage remains were located in the desert and recovered after only 20 minutes of searching.