Police called after protesters and security guards clash at rocket launch site

Protesters and security guards have clashed at the site of a rocket launch on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula this morning.

Rocket launching company Southern Launch is due to conduct a test flight of a rocket today from a launch pad constructed at Whalers Way, a popular tourist site south of Port Lincoln that has now been closed to the public.

Southern Launch’s test flight of Taiwanese company TiSPACE’s 10.2-metre, two-stage orbital rocket Hapith I is expected to be launched this afternoon.

Whalers Way is the company’s second test launching site, after its first commercial launch from Koobibba Aboriginal lands in South Australia last year.

Environmental protesters believe the launch should not go ahead because whales were seen to be swimming in the bay — a popular breeding ground.

A Southern Launch spokeswoman said the company used maritime and drone security to monitor any activity in their water exclusion zone.

“We are aware of whales being spotted in Boston Bay on the other side of the Eyre Peninsula some 30 kilometres away but we have not seen any whale activity within our maritime zone,” she said.

Video of this morning’s protest shows a woman, Athena Taylor, holding a banner standing in front of a car before police ask her to move off the road.

A police officer then attempts to move Ms Taylor and she falls to the ground.

The Southern Launch spokeswoman said the company was alerted to “a couple of vehicles” that were driven into the gateway of their launch complex this morning, blocking the entrance.

“As emergency services were already onsite at this time, in preparation for the launch day, the police were able to deal with the matter quickly,” she said.

“We thank SAPOL for their quick action in settling this matter.

“We also thank our local security team from Port Lincoln, for their professionalism in responding to the matter.”

A SAPOL spokesperson said police have been monitoring the protest today.

“There have been no arrests, and the majority of protesters are behaving in an orderly manner,” the spokesperson said.

‘They’re going to kill our story’

Athena Taylor lives with her family off the grid next to the site, nestled amongst the rugged coastal scrubland, running purely off solar and rainwater.

Her mum, Penelope, said she would have to consider leaving the area if it became a permanent industrial zone.

“It’s not easy living in this type of environment, we’ve done that because we had a vision, and to feel like those sacrifices and that whole way of life will come to nothing,” Ms Taylor said.

Ms Taylor said “nobody can really comprehend what we as a family have been through.”

“It’s pretty tough,” she said.

“My husband is getting towards 80 — that’s another aspect of the nightmare — when you’re getting to 80 and you’ve worked really hard, you feel like you have a right to retire in peace.”

Barngarla elder Lizzy Richards also opposes the launch site.

“I’ve been crying for the last couple of days over this,” she said.

Auntie Lizzy is from the Stolen Generations and holds concerns for the local environment. 

“It’s a beautiful place,” she said.

“The whales, the animals, the vegetation is not going to be here no more and it’s sad.

“They’re going to kill our story.”

Port Lincoln resident David Richards said he was angry that the launch was going ahead today.

“If they want to make a development, they can go out to London or England where there’s heaps of concrete already,” he said.

“We want to keep this place natural — just as it is.”

Hope for space tourism

Not everyone has been against the development — some locals in Port Lincoln have welcomed the opportunities the launch could bring.

Tour operator Craig Haslam said there was an opportunity for the industry to introduce space tourism to new visitors.

“It’s an opportunity, it’s very raw and new it’s a chance to ask ‘what are the possibilities?’,” he said.

“If you look internationally space tourism is very big, so the Eyre Peninsula has the opportunity to be a part of that, we need to do it right, we need to make sure it benefits the whole destination — but it puts us on the map, not only on the state stage, but on the international stage.”