Newly declassified Australian space documents released by the National Archives of Australia– concerns about negative publicity over US allegedly crashing space station in Australia deliberately.

By Sasha Uzunov

Prominent American journalist C. Renwick Breck raised concerns that US spy base in Australia Pine Gap might have been the reason for the US allegedly crashing a faulty space station in the Australian outback in July 1979 to recover sensitive spy equipment, and placing Australians in unnecessary danger. 

Newly declassified Australian space documents released by the National Archives of Australia reveal that both United States and Australian government officials were concerned about the negative publicity that could arise from Breck’s reporting but relieved that Australian journalists had not delved too deeply into the allegation.

An Australian official, in a handwritten note, from a meeting with visiting US officials sent to Australia to recover the debris of Skylab, wrote: 

“US press* – Pine Gap question. WA [Western Australian] Press – not really interested… *Breck (TV journalist from San Francisco). His story will be extremely critical.”

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A 1979 US diplomatic cable released some time ago goes into more detail:

1. ON SEPTEMBER 2 PERTH SUNDAY TIMES (A RUPERT MURDOCH PUBLICATION) GAVE BANNER FRONT PAGE HEADLINES TO A SENSATIONAL ARTICLE CLAIMING THAT SKYLAB WAS DELIBERATELY BROUGHT DOWN NEAR PINE GAP SO THAT SECRET MILITARY ESPIONAGE EQUIPMENT COULD BE RECOVERED FROM IT. ACCORDING TO THE STORY THESE CLAIMS WILL BE MADE IN A PERTH PRODUCED DOCUMENTARY AND WILL BE INCLUDED IN A SUBMISSION TO A US CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY. STORY QUOTED PRODUCER OF THE DOCUMENTARY, A MR. BOB ROGET, AND U.S. JOURNALIST RENWICK BRECK. AS OF SEPTEMBER 4 NEITHER THE WEST AUSTRALIAN NOR THE AUSTRALIAN HAVE PICKED UP THE STORY….MR. RENWICK BRECK AN AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN JOURNALIST – BELIEVE NASA HAD COMPLETE CONTROL OVER SKYLAB’S RE-ENTRY. THEY SAY IT WAS BROUGHT DOWN DELIBERATELY OVER THE OUTBACK AROUND PINE GAP, NEAR ALICE SPRINGS SO THAT THE BASE’S SENSITIVE RADAR COULD PINPOINT THE SECTION’S EXACT LOCATION FOR EASY RECOVERY. ‘I WILL NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THE CLAIMS,’ THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, MR. KILLEN, SAID YESTERDAY. ‘I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ON THE MATTER.’ THE CLAIMS RAISE MANY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS INVOLVING AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE…

In 1973 the United States’s National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) launched the country’s first space station called Skylab. It orbited the earth for six years as a space research laboratory. It began to malfunction as soon as it was launched. In July 1979 it was brought down by NASA and crashed near Esperance in Western Australia, Australia. Luckily with no one killed as a result.

A declassified US Central Intelligence report hints that Skylab was also used as a spy satellite.