Launch Area 5 (LA5) is an operational site at the RAAF Woomera Test Range which forms the primary operational capability of the Woomera Range Complex.[1][2] Originally LA5 was a rocket launch site which supported a number of British experimental launches, including the United Kingdom's first, and as of 2023[update] only, satellite launch. It consisted of three separate launch pads, which supported 22 Black Knight sounding rocket launches,[3][4] and four Black Arrow carrier rocket launches.[4] Of the four Black Arrow launches, two were orbital launches, the first of which, on 2 September 1970, failed, and the second, on 28 October 1971, succeeded, placing the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.[5]
^See: HQWTR - Woomera Range Complex Fact Sheet (Nov 2013)
^"Woomera". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
^"Woomera LA5A". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.