Rejoice, Australian space geeks

NASA has selected two companies to develop its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). If all goes well, services like these will supply cargo and perhaps crew to the ISS when the space shuttle is retired in 2010.
The surprise part of the package is the development of a $A 100 million launch site at Woomera, South Australia. Woomera is real outback territory – it fits the image of Australia that you might have if you’ve only seen it in the movies. Back in the 50s and 60s it was a British missile testing range, most famously for the Blue Streak project. I grew up not far from RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria, which was also a Blue Streak test site. More recently, Woomera has gained some notoriety as an immigration detention centre, thankfully now closed.
Could be exciting times ahead for Aussie space fans.