The first US satellite tracking system, called Minitrack, a part
of Project Vanguard, was designed by the US Naval Research Laboratory. It was
installed at Woomera Range G to the North of Woomera village
in 1957 and became operational in March 1958.
The equipment, excluding fixed and steerable antennas, was housed
in an air-conditioned Fruehauf semi-trailer. It tracked satellites which transmitted
on 108 MHz.
The Department of Supply staffed that Station under Jack Dowling. (Jack was later Station Director at MILA – the Merritt Island Launch Area tracking station.)
When the next generation of earth-orbiting satellites
began using a frequency of 136 MHz and, to service them, the station was relocated
to Island Lagoon. The system was upgraded to the Mod. 1 Minitrack of 136 MHz
and a permanent building and new Minitrack equipment were installed.
Jan Delgado took this photo (and another of Woomera township) from an aircraft on the way to/from Adelaide.
Minitrack – then and now
Island Lagoon Minitrack 1964 and contemporary views.
At left, Jan Delgado’s oblique aerial photo of the Minitrack site has been ortho-corrected so that it approximately corresponds to the contemporary satellite view (right, courtesy of Google Earth). North is at the top.
