March 2  2007
The Indian Ocean's Christmas Island spaceport facility appears to be set for launch of a space vehicle in late 2009 - News Desk research has work commencing on the OZ controlled launch site later this year after a prolonged 6 year delay

Back in May 2001 the OZ Government committed $100 million towards the project in conjunction with the Samara Space Centre in Russia - the Asia Pacific Space Centre is the project co-ordinator

News Desk Comment  
A Casino and Resort was constructed on the island in the early 1990's targeting the nearby Asian gambling market - a few years later the Casino closed its doors - the Resort complex was then taken over by the APSC for it's operational base

Christmas Island - known in the past for phosphate mining and more recently as an immigration holding centre - now looks set for a boom time in tourist traffic as the Russian Aurora rocket nears launch