By Ronnie McInnes
DARWIN — Space Transportation Systems Ltd (STS), a Queensland-based company, is proposing to construct a commercial satellite launch facility at Gunn Point, 40 km north-east of here.
The facility would be a wholly commercial venture. If it succeeds, it will be the first facility of this kind in Australia and the first fully commercial satellite launch facility in the world.
The facility is to launch six to eight Proton rockets each year with a payload of geostationary communications satellites.
A company called Thai Satellite Telecommunications Company announced in March that it had bought shares in STS and would put $100 million towards the building of the base. TSTC is a subsidiary of the United Communications Industry Public Company (UCOM), a large Asian conglomerate. UCOM has now decided to join the project in its own right and has significant equity in STS.
Also involved will be a Russian-US consortium called International Launch Services, formerly known as Lockheed-Krunichev-Energia. The Russian component, Krunichev, invented the Proton rocket. It has teamed up with the US Lockheed Martin to form a company which will supply the launch vehicle and market the service.
An environmental impact statement is being conducted in the Gunn Point area. The Environment Centre NT (ECNT) is participating in the EIS process as well as liaising with Aboriginal organisations and government departments. The first draft of the EIS is expected to be ready by February, and the final should be concluded by mid-1997.
An ECNT information concerning the proposed satellite facility states, "A close investigation into the significance of the flora and fauna of the area will be undertaken as part of the EIS process".
In 1987, the NT Department of Lands undertook a draft Evaluation of Options for Development of Weekender and Urban Residential Development, Gunn Point. It noted: "A number of areas on Gunn Point are considered to be of Territory-wide significance for conservation. Gunn Point as a whole is botanically very rich. There is a considerable diversity of plant life not found elsewhere close to Darwin. Indeed there are only two other areas in the tropical part of the Territory with as much richness, the others being remote from Darwin ... Thus the Peninsula as a whole is very important."
Consulting Engineers for the EIS, Sinclair Knight Mertz, have noted some 245 different species of flora and fauna previously surveyed in the area, of which two are considered of conservation significance.
Matthew Elliott, a bush regeneration and management consultant, says that this list "is obviously incomplete". He undertook a brief two-hour visual survey in which an additional 12 species were observed. He was concerned that the development will go ahead without comprehensive fauna and flora surveys.
Elliott states, "Herb, grass and sedge families are often dormant for much of the year. Only after studies of the area over a three-year period, including during the wet seasons, might we begin to have a complete listing of flora. To move the development ahead without detailed studies could be dangerously presumptuous."
The ECNT has presented the consultants with a list of questions about the proposal, including what funding and services are required from the territory government, and which Aboriginal organisations have been identified as the traditional owners.
Other issues include "drop zones", particularly for the stage one rocket, which is planned to land in Arnhem Land. This stage will weigh over 30 tonnes and be falling from 50 km to land in an area approximately 20 km wide and 30 km in length.
There is also concern about the potential impact on wetlands and marine environments, possible military capability or use of the site and how the NT will benefit from the base.
Toxicity of the fuels raises many questions. These will be used in large amounts for each launch and will be transported to the site through Darwin, Palmerston and Humpty Doo residential areas. In case of an accidental spill, risk to the public is very high.