Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly in talks with US and Australian government officials over a plan to land and recover one of its Starship launch vehicles off the coast of Australia.
The discussions come as SpaceX, having already secured a multi-billion-dollar contract US space agency NASA as part of its Artemis program, looks to ramp up flight testing.
Reuters on Tuesday reported the splashdown plan would involve launching Starship, a fully-reusable launch vehicle capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes, from a SpaceX facility in Texas and landing it off Australia’s coast.
Discussions between SpaceX and the Australian Space Agency have reportedly centred on the regulatory hurdles of a controlled splashdown and the recover of the Starship booster from the Australian mainland.
SpaceX completed its fourth Starship flight test in June, with the vehicle successfully re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. An earlier test flight in March was unsuccessful.
At least one more controlled splashdown of Starship is expected to take place before the company attempts the difficult task of landing a booster at its Starbase facility in Texas.
An Australian Space Agency spokesperson declined to confirm the report when asked on Tuesday, saying only that it is “currently engaging with domestic and international companies looking to explore opportunities”.
“With the Technology Safeguards Agreement now in place US space companies can now launch and return spacecraft in Australia,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.com.
The Technology Safeguards Agreement came into effect last week, having received broad support from lawmakers during a give-month parliamentary inquiry into the treaty.
The TSA provides a new legal and technical framework for US companies, government agencies and universities to conduct launches from Australian soil, while ensuring US space technology is protected.
Australian spaceport operators are expected to be the predominant beneficiaries of the TSA, with as many as 100 space launches worth $1 billion to the local economy expected over the next decade.
“With the TSA in place, it’s estimated Australian spaceport operators could supply between 45 and 95 space launches over the next decade with a value of between $460 million to 1.2 billion,” Industry and Science minister Ed Husic said last week.
“This would be a massive uptick for Australia’s launch sector which was worth $27 million in the 21/22 financial year.
“This demand will increase investment in local infrastructure and scale the Australian launch and return sector. It will expand the market that is open to Australian companies and uplift the entire local space sector.”
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