Advantages of the Woomera Test Facility for Hypersonic Flight Programs

The Woomera Test Facility (WTF) in South Australia offers extensive capabilities in support of hypersonic flight testing. The vast range area, comprising 127,000 square kilometers of sparsely populated land and overlying restricted airspace, can accommodate a diverse mix of advanced aerospace programs requiring large safety templates. Current and potential hypersonic activities include testing of scramjet propulsion using high altitude sounding rockets, atmospheric trials of hypersonic flight vehicles and spacecraft re-entry from earth orbit and interplanetary space. The WTF is operated by the Aerospace Operational Support Group (AOSG) of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and is available for use by government and commercial organizations under appropriate arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the advantages of the WTF for hypersonic flight programs, including instrumentation and other capabilities available to range users. Additionally, a forward perspective of AOSG’s strategy to further enhance the capabilities and potential of the WTF is provided.