Blog 356 Part 1 – Woomera Rocket Range, Part of Australia’s Forgotten History – Blog Written 13 June 2026
Blog 356 Part 1 – Australia's Lost History: Woomera Rocket Centre – Blog Written 13 June 2026 Most people and most of my fellow Australians know nothing about the pivotal role Australia played in the development of the Space Program after WW 2. Most Australians have never heard of Len Beadell either. Len is one of the many heroes who helped defeat the Imperial Japanese Army in Papua New Guinea. When WW 2 ended, Len was asked by the Australian government to use his skills as a surveyor to map and build roads across the vast, unknown inland of Australia. Len was also asked by the government to identify a site where space rockets could be tested and launched by the British government. The site he identified was Woomera. Woomera became one of the major places in the world where space research and rocket launches were carried out. Most Australians do not know that their own country helped pioneered satellite communications. I took this photo i...
