Private space launch corporations INNOSPACE said on the 16th that it signed a launch site use agreement with Southern Launch, an Australian private launch site operator and service provider.
Through this agreement, INNOSPACE will use both the Whalers Way orbital launch site and the Koonibba Test Range suborbital launch site operated by Southern Launch for the next 10 years starting next year. Southern Launch is evaluated as a launch site that supports both orbital and suborbital launches while possessing recovery operation experience and infrastructure.
Located in a sparsely populated area at the southern tip of Australia, the Whalers Way orbital launch site offers high launch safety and the geographic advantage to secure flight paths suitable for inserting into low Earth orbit (LEO) and sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The Koonibba Test Range suborbital launch site is considered one of the largest test ranges in the world. Both sites are situated in areas with little air and sea traffic, enabling efficient launch operations and regulatory procedures.
In addition to its 2023 launch site use agreement with Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), INNOSPACE has secured an additional Southern Launch site, giving it two independent launch options in Australia and, by continent, three launch hubs.
Chief Executive Kim Su-jong of INNOSPACE said, "The partnership with Southern Launch is an important step to strengthen our global launch service capabilities," adding, "Based on this expansion of our launch site network, we will flexibly respond to customers' diverse mission needs—from satellite launches to technology verification and the recovery of space-manufactured products—further strengthening our commercialization competitiveness through the provision of customized rapid launch services and the establishment of a multi-launch system."