Essington Ltd

For satellite builders, it could be a dream come true--cheap but reliable Soviet rockets helped by American know-how launching satellites from near the Equator in a politically stable country. The Cape York Space Agency, the company planning the world's first private spaceport, expects to launch its first 4,850-pound commercial payload by 1995 from a marshland site on the northeastern tip of Australia.

For satellite builders, it could be a dream come true--cheap but reliable Soviet rockets helped by American know-how launching satellites from near the Equator in a politically stable country. The Cape York Space Agency, the company planning the world's first private spaceport, expects to launch its first 4,850-pound commercial payload by 1995 from a marshland site on the northeastern tip of Australia.