For Year 6 student Hayden Blines, the Queensland Government's $8 million investigation into a proposed space hub near Bowen is "awesome" news.
Hayden fell in love with aviation after he was invited into the cockpit of an Airbus A380 by a pilot who spotted his excitement when he got on board.
"It's the biggest passenger plane in the world, so he invited me to see the controls and get a photo," the youngster said.
"I've loved everything aviation ever since."
But up until now, Hayden thought he would have to travel a world away to pursue his dream career.
"I love aviation, engineering, space, anything to do with going up and I was worried I was going to have to move to America to continue that kind of education.
"But now it's right in my backyard, right there, it's pretty cool."
Aiming for the stars
Defence expert Neil Hart said the site offered a huge opportunity, not just for local kids, but all of Australia.
"Queensland has excellent geography for launching rockets, looking at satellites and handling big infrastructure." he said.
"We all use space every day but most of us don't realise it and most of those space services come from overseas.
"It's really exiting, there is a really big opportunity for Queensland and Australia."
Mr Hart says Bowen is perfectly placed because it is close to the equator and the coast.
"Most of the big rocket sites like Cape Canaveral are on the water because it's much easier to make sure every rocket launch is safe," he said.
"This location means we can grow into big rockets that will aim towards a range of orbits."
Open by 2022
Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Andrew Wilcox said the Bowen site may be able to launch satellites and other small rockets as early as 2022.
"All the experts that we've had said Bowen is a go because of the latitude, clear skies, and we've got the open water there at the state development area right next door to Abbot Point," he said.
"It turns out it's location, location, location.
"We've got the area there, 16,000 hectares of land available, next to the highway so we can bring gear in — we've got all that going for us.
"I don’t think the average man in the street from Bowen is going to be NASA technician, but it will create jobs in the way of construction."
