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During the next 30 years, 4000 different missiles and rocket projects came and went, some successful some not.  Hardware developed from those test remain in service today – Rapier, Jindivik, Ikara, Seawolf and Skylark are examples.  The more notable projects include Blue Steel, Black Arrow, Blue Streak, Black Knight, Bloodhound, Seaslug, Thunderbird, Wresat and of course Eldo and its Europa rocket.  You can view some of these relics from these projects at the Heritage Centre Missile and Aircraft Display Park.

The big rockets – Black Arrow, Redstone, Blue Streak and Europa were also associated with the attempts to put satellites into orbit from Woomera.  The first successful launch took place at 2.19pm on the 20^th November 1967.  Called Wresat, it was the first and regrettably to date, the only satellite designed and built in Australia – much of it in Adelaide.  The first stage of the rocket which put Wresat into orbit was recovered from the Simpson desert, 1000km north of Woomera by a team in April 1990 and is now on display at the missile and aircraft park.

Undoubtedly the most ambitious and probably the most expensive project was sponsored by the European Launcher Development Organization – ELDO – which aimed among other things, to place European communication satellites into orbit.  Eldo brought scientist, engineers and technicians from all over Europe, making Woomera a household name in Europe in the 1960’s.

Now only the Eldo Mess (renamed Eldo Hotel) remains.

The Americans first came to Woomera in the early 1960’s, mainly with NASA who established two deep space tracking stations – Red Lake to the north and Island Lagoon near Nurrungar.  Island Lagoon closed in December 1972 having tracked Pioneer 10 spacecraft on route to Jupiter.  But the American presence remained in another form – USAF – (United States Air Force).

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