Capricorn Space to double Mingenew ground station site as antenna count hits 20

Capricorn Space plans to double the land it uses at Australian Ground Network – West (AGN-W), near Mingenew in Western Australia, after customer demand pushed the site to 20 operational antennas. The company said it expects further antennas to come online before the end of 2026.

Growth will come from developing Lot 2, a second parcel of almost six hectares (14 acres), together with a substantial lift in power generation and distribution across the site. Capricorn Space said the build-out is meant to serve ongoing demand for conventional single-antenna services and for newer offerings: phased arrays, gigabit optical services and processing of data on site.

Customers are satellite operators and ground segment service providers, who use one of three arrangements. Landlord clients put up and run their own antennas, hybrid clients combine their own specialist gear with Capricorn Space antennas, and retail clients book scheduled passes on antennas and modems owned by Capricorn Space. Several customers now run more than one antenna there, and the site also hosts Australian and international groups developing new technologies, including for national and regional security.

AGN-W lies within the Mingenew Earth Station Protection Zone, where the ACMA has barred new terrestrial radio services such as microwave links since 2009, to keep interference away from satellite ground stations. The company also cites clear skies and a flat horizon in every direction, which suit tracking low-Earth orbit satellites, and a location that can receive data from polar and sun-synchronous satellites soon after passes over South-East Asia and the Indian Ocean.

The government's Statement on Space, issued in July 2026, named ground segment platforms supporting sovereign data control as a key opportunity for local industry. Mark Thompson AM, chief executive officer and chief engineer of Capricorn Space, said, "Clients coming back to install a second and third antenna is the clearest endorsement a ground station can get". Thompson said more of the data that matters to Australia and the region "should land on Australian soil, at Australian-owned infrastructure, and that is what we are building."