CANBERRA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has released a draft strategy for developing space industry.

According to the draft Territory Space Strategy for 2021-25, which was published by the government on Saturday, the NT could become a major player in the space tourism sector and the premier location for space launches in the region.

It said that federal legislation governing space tourism and human space flight was needed, with operators expected to start establishing regional launch hubs.

"In the medium-term it's expected that space tourism operators will look to establish regional launch hubs to service local markets," the document said.

"The Territory is ideally placed to host these facilities as it sits on the doorstep to Asia, has favourable weather conditions, and a number of airports that could be used for horizontal launch."

Along with South Australia (SA), the NT is leading the way in building Australia's space industry.

In 2018 the federal government established the Australian Space Agency in SA and tasked it with growing the annual value of the industry to 12 billion Australian dollars (8.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030.

Nicole Manison, minister for Northern Australia and trade, said investing in the local space industry will improve local mobile connectivity, remote health, bushfire tracking, emergency management and agriculture.

"We have been working hard to keep Territorians safe from coronavirus, but we are also working on our economic rebound - with new industries, new investments and new jobs," the minister said in a media release. Enditem

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