Purpose
The purpose of this document is to summarise the investigation report into the accident of the Hapith I Rocket at Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex (WWOLC), South Australia on 16 September 2021.
The investigation was carried out under the Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 (the Act).
This summary (available for download on the top right of the webpage) was published by the Australian Space Agency (the Agency) on 15 June 2022, on behalf of the Minister for Industry and Science, in the interests of promoting safety in the space sector and transparency with the broader community.
Background
On 12 July 2021, SouthernLaunch.Space Pty Ltd (Southern Launch) was granted a launch facility licence (2/2021) to operate WWOLC to support a test launch campaign of up to three suborbital launches.
Southern Launch advised the purpose of the campaign was, amongst other things, to collect data measuring the impact of the launches on local wildlife, in order to support the South Australian Government’s Major Development assessment of Southern Launch’s longer-term proposed use of the site for a permanent launch complex.
On 9 August 2021, Taiwan Innovative Space Inc. (tiSPACE) was granted an Australian launch permit (1/2021) to conduct the first test launch of its Hapith I vehicle, referred to as VS01, from Whalers Way. On 16 September 2021, tiSPACE attempted to launch VS01. During the countdown the launch vehicle caught fire and was destroyed with no injuries to personnel and some damage to pad infrastructure.
Please refer to the downloadable file available on the top right of this webpage.
