A former chief executive of spaceport startup Equatorial Launch Australia is owed more than $2.3 million, a judge has ruled, after the collapsed firm lost a four-year legal fight in the Federal Court on Friday.

Carley Scott, who was CEO of Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) for almost four years until March 2022, later sued the company for almost $5 million she claimed she was owed, under a contract she signed with the firm in October 2019.

ELA filed a counterclaim in late 2022 which reportedly alleged Scott had engaged in fraud and deceptive conduct by altering contracts for her own benefit – allegations she denied in court.

In his decision last week, Federal Court Justice Craig Dowling said he found Scott’s evidence to be “credible and truthful”.

Despite agreeing with “some of the matters raised by ELA in its defence”, the judge did not agree with the company’s claim that Scott had foregone her payment entitlements by participating in a scheme that gave company shares to employees.

He found Scott was entitled to $3 million under her so-called Commitment Amount Contract with the company, minus around $633,000 which had already been paid to her as part of her annual $250,000 salary.

The judge found ELA had breached its employment contract with Scott, who was also entitled to a further $17,000 consisting of around $2,750 in mobile phone allowance and $14,700 for expense reimbursements.

Law firm Piper Alderman, which represented ELA, did not respond to a request for comment on the court’s decision or whether the company would appeal.

Allegations took ‘immense’ toll, former CEO says

ELA’s counterclaim against Scott reportedly alleged she had removed key performance indicators (KPIs) from her contracts which could have stopped her from receiving future equity in the company.

Following the Federal Court’s decision, Scott said the allegations made by her former employer “landed, unjustly, in the public realm”.

“I have always maintained the claims were untrue, and the court has now rejected them,” she wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

Scott said fighting the allegations had taken an “immense” toll on her life.

“Throughout, I held to the belief that the people who know me, personally and professionally, would see through it,” she wrote.

“... The judgment is on the public record.

“It now stands as the definitive account, whatever older reports an online search might still show.”


Carley Scott (pictured) was found to have given 'credible and truthful' evidence by Federal Court Justice Craig Dowling. Image: Space CoLAB

Scott’s solicitors Maurice Blackburn said the Federal Court's decision had vindicated their client.

Lawyer Imogen Szumer said Scott had been “subjected to serious and unfounded allegations by ELA”.

“Many of these claims were abandoned by ELA in the days and weeks before the trial, and the remaining allegations have now been rejected by the Federal Court,” Szumer said in a statement.

“The court accepted Ms Scott’s evidence in full and found that her contractual rights must be honoured.

“... Our client has welcomed this decision and can now put this chapter behind her and focus on growing her new venture.”

Scott was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021 for her services to the nation’s space industry and to the community of the Northern Territory.

She has since founded quantum communications startup Space CoLAB, of which she is CEO and CTO.

Payout unclear amid company liquidation

It remains to be seen whether Scott will receive some or all of the more than $2.3 million that Justice Dowling found she is owed by ELA, given the company was placed into voluntary liquidation in February 2026.

"Being able to see any of that money or not, we'll see what comes of it," Scott told ABC Radio Darwin.

"But really, the ability to stand up for what was to me exceptionally important, in saying these allegations need to be resoundingly rejected — and they have been — was the core, and I'll hold onto that."

ELA’s liquidator Geoffrey Granger did not respond by deadline to a request for comment.


NASA launched three rockets from ELA's NT space port (pictured) in 2022. Image: ELA / LinkedIn

The company rose to prominence in 2022 when the United States’ space agency NASA launched three rockets from ELA’s space port in the remote NT, just months after Scott was removed from her role.

The launches were NASA’s first from a commercial, non-government site.

Despite raising more than $20 million from investors and $5 million from the NT government, ELA abruptly shut its NT launch site in 2024.

The firm attempted to relocate to Queensland, but allegedly struggled to secure land use agreements.