Recent Activity
Continued hypersonic and suborbital test campaigns through 2025; partnership model cited as case study by ASA
Investor Brief
First-of-its-kind Indigenous-community commercial spaceport partnership — template for future Australian rural launch infrastructure and royalty-sharing models.
Ownership
Parent Entity
Regulatory Regime
Anchor Tenants
Latitude Advantage
Launch Azimuth Range
Country
🇦🇺Australia
Region
Oceania
Established
2,020
Launches / Year
25
Years Active
6
Strategic Position
-31.7800° S, 133.5800° E
Azimuth: Overland northerly trajectories over uninhabited South Australian outback
31.8°S — overland inland site optimized for suborbital research rather than orbital efficiency
Future Milestones
- 2026
Expanded hypersonic flight test cadence under AUKUS Pillar II programs
About
Koonibba Test Range is a suborbital sounding-rocket and hypersonic testing range in remote Far West South Australia, operated by Southern Launch in partnership with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation. Established 2020, it pioneered a commercial-Indigenous partnership model for Australian launch infrastructure. The range supports research suborbital flights, hypersonic test articles, and university/defence sounding-rocket campaigns.
Key Features
Australia's first commercial-Indigenous partnership spaceport operating model
Active suborbital sounding-rocket and hypersonic test range since 2020
Remote inland site providing long overland trajectories
Operated by Southern Launch with Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation as landowner-partner
Hosts university and DoD research payloads
Rockets That Launch Here
Companies Operating Here
Orbit Types
Notable Launches
First Koonibba sounding-rocket launch (Sep 2020) — DEWC Systems T-Minus DART payload
Subsequent hypersonic and research suborbital campaigns through 2021–2025