CHRONICLE COLUMN – ROCKET SCIENCE
Let’s blast off into 2023!
If you were to Google “Toowoomba Virgin Space Port” you’d have access to around a million results in under a second. The results are from all over the world and a mix of government, business, aeronautics, and space industry sites. Why the interest in Toowoomba’s recently announced Virgin Orbit Spaceport? Because this is big international news! Yes, it’s rocket science – which is super chic – and yes, it is another example of how a BIG vision and a local business can put Toowoomba beyond the global map and in the minds of people in every continent around the globe
Rocket Science is alive and well in Toowoomba!
It would never have happened without impressive negotiation skills and muscle. This achievement goes beyond hard work, there’s true passion behind it. And a constant striving for nothing less than excellence.
And as we all know, the bigger the project the bigger the challenges. However, if everything goes to plan, Virgin Orbit’s first Australian space station will be located alongside Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and its Aerospace and Defence Precinct, the Qantas Group Pilot Academy, Boeing’s uncrewed aircraft production facility and an expanding business park. It’s becoming quite a cluster!
The goal is that Virgin Orbit’s Launcher One will take off from Wellcamp Airport within 18 months – sometime in 2024.
In the meantime, there is work to be done and as a Toowoomba business, you’ll be wanting to know how you can swing off these very cool interplanetary and comet tails as the sun fades in the distance. Sound super cool?
Or maybe, you just want to reach out to UniSQ to see how you can get involved in their first-rate, internationally recognised space programs. They know space is BIG and its opportunities endless. So don’t be muddleheaded and if you are interested, reach out and talk to them about their one-of-a-kind, space opportunities.
The first thing we must do, is keep an eye on how things go for our sister space ports. Virgin Orbit’s other space port is in Cornwall, UK and Virgin Galactic’s space port is in New Mexico USA. If you check out their websites, you’ll see they are bursting at the seams with excitement about future opportunities.
Spaceport Cornwall is the UK’s first satellite launch station located at the Cornwall Airport in Newquay (around 30 mins south of Port Isaac for Doc Martin fans). It’s owned by a consortium of partners including Cornwall Council, Virgin Orbit, Goonhilly Earth Station, and the UK Space Agency. The UK government believes the project will deliver 150 direct jobs, and 240 indirect jobs by 2030. Here in Queensland, our state government reckons the development of a space industry could potentially contribute up to $6 billion to the state’s economy by 2036 and 6,000 jobs.
It is BIG news! And no one can deny, it is innovative, courageous, forward-thinking and out of this world!
Rocket Science and the Space Port
Toowoomba Chamber will do its best to keep members updated on progress and opportunities around the Space Port. We also ask members to share information with us so that we can pass it on.
We are sure some challenges will include housing, training, transport, environment etc. But those challenges and solutions, yes there are solutions, can wait for another day.
For now, let’s celebrate all involved in Toowoomba’s first foray into space! It’s out of this WORLD!
