THE STRATEGIST: Northern launch site could transform Australia’s role in space
The Australian continent is in an excellent position when it comes to launching payloads into space, because its north is so close to the equator. Only Kourou in French Guiana—the European Space Agency’s main launch site—at 5 degrees north latitude and the Alcantara launch centre in Brazil at 2° south latitude (inoperative after a devastating accident in 2003) are closer to the equatorial sweet spot.
