A tiny spaceport in a remote stretch of Arnhem Land is set to become a new launch site for the world's biggest space agency: NASA.

Key points:

• NASA is reportedly planning its first launches around experiments on sounding rockets
• The stretch of Arnhem Land where NASA is set to settle in has geographical advantages in being near the equator
• The Northern Territory Government said the spaceport would provide an economic boost to Nhulunbuy

The US organisation on Friday evening announced its intention to send sounding rockets into space from a site 700 kilometres east of Darwin.

"NASA's [Goddard Space Flight Centre] plans to award a contract to Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) to provide services to NASA for a temporary southern hemisphere launch site for conducting scientific investigations," the US Government's Federal Business Opportunities website stated.

ELA said the contract would see four rockets launched at the Arnhem Land spaceport next year.

"It is big news," ELA chief Carley Scott said.

"It's really exciting for Australia, the space industry in Australia, and ourselves.

"The plan for NASA's first launches are around scientific experiments on sounding rockets, so they are smaller rockets as far as the rocket world goes."