The Weapons Research Establishment: an Administrative History

Paper number

IAC-06-E4.2.05

Author

Ms. Kerrie Dougherty, Power House Museum, Australia

Year

2006

Abstract

Any reference to the Woomera Rocket Range or early rocket programs in Australia will inevitably include mention of the Weapons Research Establishment, the Australian Government agency that managed the Range from 1955, after a re-organisation of Australian defence science research, until 1978, when it was re-structured in another re-organisation of the defence science establishment. Yet, while many papers presented at previous International Astronautical Congresses have covered the histories of various rocket projects at Woomera, none has looked at the history of the managing agency itself and its place in Australia’s space history.

This paper seeks to remedy that lack by presenting a brief history of the Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) across its 1955-78 lifespan and its role in space-related activities in Australia, which was not confined only to the management of the Woomera Range: WRE was effectively Australia’s first “space agency”. WRE was active in several areas of aerospace/astronuatical research, including upper atmospheric and hypersonic research; in the development of rocket technologies, telemetry techniques, instrumentation and Australia’s first satellite; it was at the forefront of developments in data management and computing; had oversight of the NASA tracking stations in Australia and the national participation in the ELDO project and represented Australia in various international fora.       

This paper will outline the creation of the WRE from predecessor organisations in the defence science establishment in Australia and present an administrative history of the agency across its several internal re-organisations, stemming from political factors both external and internal. It will examine the operations of the Weapons Research Establishment across a wide range of defence and space-related fields and consider the ultimate break-up of the agency as a result of changing government priorities.

Abstract document

IAC-06-E4.2.05.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-E4.2.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.