Keeping Track: Australia’s Space History

Article

“Keeping Track: Australia’s Space History” by Christopher Gainor
Published in Quest Volume: 33 #2 (2026)

Abstract

The 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) last year in Sydney, Australia, began with an opening ceremony showcasing something not well known to the outside world—Australia’s history as a spacefaring nation. Although the Australian Space Agency was founded only recently in 2018, the first Australian satellite, Wresat, dates back to 1967 when it was launched from the Woomera Test Range in South Australia atop a Redstone rocket supplied by the US military. Further satellites followed, from the student-built Australis–OSCAR 5 satellite of 1970 to the more sophisticated Aussat and Optus communications satellites of later years. Two Australians who immigrated to the United States, Paul Scully-Power and Andy Thomas, flew on Shuttle missions for NASA. Today, Australia’s first astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, awaits her first flight after completing astronaut training with the European Space Agency. As shown by the many Australian space pioneers who took the stage at the IAC opening ceremony, Australia’s history in spaceflight goes beyond its own space efforts. During my visit to Australia that included the IAC and sightseeing in the eastern part of the continent, I focused on one aspect of that history, the tracking stations in Australia that started operations at the dawn of space exploration and continue to the present day. Tracking stations located in Australia have played roles in many high points of NASA’s human space programs, especially the first human footsteps on the Moon. When Artemis II made its lunar flyby in 2026, the signals from the spacecraft were picked up at Tidbinbilla.

Citation

Gainor, Christopher. “Keeping Track: Australia’s Space History.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 33, no. 2 (2026): 45-48.