Reprinted from CSIRO Space Industry News, No. 49, p. 5, December 1992.

AUSROC II launch fails, but commitment to project remains
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     AUSROC II, a key component of the Australian Space Engineering and Research
Association's (ASERA) amateur rocket program, failed to leave the ground when
fired at the Woomera Rocket Range on Thursday 22 October.

     Owing to a faulty liquid oxygen valve, the vehicle caught fire and was
extensively damaged. Project organisers say that the motor, injector, and
recovery system may be salvageable, but that new oxygen and kerosene tanks, and
a new structure will be required.

     Also salvageable is the participants enthusiasm for the project. They are
currently reviewing the vehicle's systems with a view to modifying the design
and the launch operations, and the launch of an improved AUSROC II has been
tentatively scheduled for September 1993.

     An AUSROC II post mortem was the first item on the agenda at the Second
Annual AUSROC Conference, held at the University of South Australia - Levels
Campus, on 9-11 December. Also at the conference, there was detailed discussion
of systems development for AUSROC III, a planned suborbital vehicle, and 
AUSROC IV, on which the group hopes to eventually place a microsat in orbit.
There are currently over 40 volunteers from a range of institutions involved in
the development of AUSROC III systems.

     The AUSROC rocket program started in 1988 when a group of Monash University
students and amateur rocketeers united to design and construct a small, fuelled
rocket, based upon a design from the Pacific Rocket Society in the USA. This
rocket - AUSROC I - was launched from the Graytwon Proof and Experimental
Establishment, Victoria.