On this day in space! Nov. 29, 1967: Australia Launches Its 1st Satellite

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On Nov. 29, 1967, the first Australian satellite launched.

On Nov. 29, 1967, the first Australian satellite launched. It was called the Weapons Research Establishment Satellite. The satellite lifted off from the Woomera Test Range in south Australia. It weighed almost 100 pounds, and circled Earth from pole to pole.

Australia's first satellite, the Weapons Research Establishment Satellite, is seen at right being prepared for launch and at left lifting off atop a U.S. Redstone rocket from the Woomera Test Range on Nov. 29, 1967. (Image credit: Defense Science and Technology Organisation)

Instead of shipping the last Redstone back, they offered it to Australia, who then used it to launch their satellite.

In the last few decades, Australia has launched several more satellites. Australia is also famous for its radio astronomy work, which is another valuable contribution to space science.

On This Day in Space: See our full 365-day video archive!

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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