French rocket company Sirius Space Services has signed a contract with Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) for a multi-year, multi-launch campaign from the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC).
The agreement will see Sirius become a ‘Resident Launcher’ at the spaceport from 2025, taking up residency at their own dedicated Space Launch Complex (SLC) for the extended term of their multi-year contract. Sirius has elected to take up a ‘full service’ solution to be provided by ELA, taking advantage of the full suite of launch and mission support services and facilities available at the remote but ‘cutting edge’ commercial East Arnhem Land spaceport.
The campaign will begin with the development and test flights of SIRIUS 1 in 2026 followed by launches of the larger SIRIUS 13 (800kg payload capacity) in 2027.
“I’m delighted and excited to announce this contract with Sirius Space Services today,” said ELA’s Group CEO Michael Jones. “Sirius will become the second resident launcher at the Arnhem Space Centre which means they will leverage ELA’s advanced commercial spaceport concept, taking advantage of our comprehensive suite of launch solutions, innovative commercial offering and the best customer service and support to increase efficiency, safety, mission assuredness and commercial benefit to Sirius.”
Sirius, whose planned launch cadence could scale up over time to 18 launches per year, develops competitive launch solutions designed to meet the growing needs of the commercial space market. The flexibility to access a range of orbits, including medium and low inclination orbits, SSO and equatorial, along with ELA’s full-service offering were the key reasons behind the decision by Sirius to sign with ELA for launches from the ASC.
“It was key for Sirius to have the ability to access unique orbit options to service their clients and we are probably the only place on the planet that could provide access to these orbits, the support level required, and access to the scope of launch services in the timeframe required,” said Jones.
Sirius has selected Space Launch Complex No.3 (SLC3) or ‘Le Mans’ for their home base. The Le Mans SLC will have a dedicated 45m x 26m x 12m high Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) with ISO 8 vertical payload integration clean room with its own full span, 20T gantry crane. Le Mans SLC also has two ASC Advanced Launch Pads (ASCALP) where one will be fully developed with the ability to accommodate Sirius’ three variants of rocket, SIRIUS 1, SIRIUS 13 and, in future, the large 4 booster SIRIUS 15 variant. The other launch pad will be part-developed as a back-up.
The agreement marks the second ‘Resident Launcher’ contract for ELA; further validating ELA’s innovative business model. Several other contracts and commercial alliance deals are expected to be announced in the very near future.
Jones stated that in addition to contracted rocket companies Innospace and Sirius, inbound enquiry relating to ELA’s services has been ‘hot’ meaning the Space Launch Complexes are filling fast. “We are currently in the final stages of negotiation with three more launchers about our resident launch contracts, so our remaining orbital complexes are filling fast,” said Jones.
In addition to its seven dedicated ‘Resident Launcher’ Space Launch Complexes, ELA has expanded its offering to include common use, multi-user launch pads for adhoc or ‘one-off’ launches as well as a suborbital multi-user launch pad facility.
François Maroquene-Froissart, co-founder and chief technical officer of Sirius Space Services said, “Our decision to select ELA was driven by their advanced commercial spaceport concept, which includes state-of-the-art infrastructure, innovative commercial offerings, and exceptional customer service and support. ELA’s commitment to safety, operational excellence, and service aligns with our mission to deliver agile and competitive launch solutions to our global clientele.”
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