National Space Program

National Space Program
Program overview
Country	Australia
Organisation	Australian Space Office; Australian Space Board (1986–1994); Australian Space Council (1994–1996); Remote Sensing Board (1995–1996); Australian Government; Royal Australian Air Force;
Purpose	Develop a national space industry in Australia
Status	Defunct by 1996
Program history
Cost	A$106 million
Duration	1986–1996
First flight	STS-42 (On board a flight launched under NASA's Space Shuttle program); January 22, 1992;
Last flight	STS-42; January 22, 1992;
Successes	1
Failures	0
Partial failures	1 (STS-42)
Launch site(s)	Cape York Space Centre; Woomera Space Centre;

The National Space Program was a set of policies and organisations under the Hawke and Keating governments created with the goals of developing a national space industry in Australia. When the Howard government came to power in 1996 the program was abolished following the advice of the Bureau of Industry Economics. The National Space Program was generally considered a failure by most media after its demise. During its existence it was crippled by a lack of budget, and multiple white elephant projects. The Federal Government disbanded the project in 1996 and had covered up most traces of it by 1998.