This week billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos took off to the edge of space, while Elon Musk is also keen to drop some coin and blast off into the ether.

Closer to earth, here are five Ballarat projects which aimed for the stars, but never quite got off the launch pad.

1: Our own dirigible space station.

A 1997 proposal to develop the Ballarat Aerodrome into a launchpad for the aerospace industry was somehow deemed viable enough for the then-City of Ballarat to offer a 50-year lease - or even sale of the entire airfield - to a developer.

Ballarat real estate agent Stewart Gull put forward the project based on patents owned by him for a radical new airship design, the Advanced Air Vehicle (AAV). A twin-hulled semi-rigid airship, the AAV would be constructed of "Kevlar and multi-layer co-extruded laminates which can be coated with radar-absorbent materials. Each contains 125,000-500,000ft (3,550-14,186m) of helium in no fewer than 10 separate cells."

Sadly for his company Begul Aviation, the hype didn't match the facts. Industry commentators noted Begul's promotional material lacked detail on design, manufacturing, financial and operational aspects.

The plan gained support from the City of Ballarat, and Mr Gull was offered a 50-year lease, with an option to buy the Ballarat aerodrome within the first three years. To facilitate this proposal the city sought to buy the area from the state government in order to sell it to Mr. Gull's company.

Unsurprisingly, the state government declined, and relations between the once-enthusiastic City of Ballarat and Mr Gull's company soured. Council decided to reassert control of the airport, angering Mr Gull.

"This day I served notice on the City of Ballarat that they are not entitled to be involved in any discussion or negotiations pursuant to a master plan in regard to Ballarat airport," he said.

To draw an unfortunate comparison, the AAV joined the Hindenberg and R101 in meeting a sudden and catastrophic end, although the latter two did at least get off the ground.

2: Motor racing Mecca

Ballarat's desire for a first class motor sports facility is long held and seemingly destined never to materialise, but few may know one of the first efforts to get a race track up was over 80 years ago.

In 1938 the Ballarat Road Races Pty. Ltd syndicate applied for approximately 400 acres of public land on the Ballarat Common, saying it would alleviate the hazards of car racing on public roads.

The syndicate offered £15,000 upfront (a staggering $1.3 million in today's money) to build the facility, with another £15,000 to follow.

A syndicate letter to the local member for Allendale, Labor MP Patrick Denigan, stated the case.

My Principals will support a Syndicate, which is prepared to spend approximately 15000 pounds immediately, and, ultimately, 30000 pounds on the construction of a modern racing circuit complete with grandstands, safety fences, booths, administration buildings, and all the equipment connected with the safe conduct of the sport. You will appreciate that before any capital is invested in this enterprise definite guarantees to protect the investors are essential, i.e., safety of tenure and the right to charge for admission.

Approval was initially granted; however World War II intervened, and the RAAF took over the site.

There was some racing over the years, but no permanent track, although Victoria Park was used.

Eighty years later, a 'highly anticipated $50 million motor sport complex' was still coming, according to the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.

In 2016 CAM's chief executive Eugene Arocca revealed Ballarat was the preferred location for a new V8 track, to replace Sandown.

"We'd consider moving CAMS's headquarters (currently in Melbourne) up to Ballarat that's how committed we are," Mr Arocca said.

"We're working against the clock to get a track established in the next two years."

Fiskville was proposed.

So far we don't have a burn-out pad.

3: Golf courses galore

Several attempts have been made to build golf retreats in and around Ballarat. Only one has come to fruition, the troubled Ballarat-Creswick course formerly known as Forest Resort, now owned by the RACV.

Another which looked set to build on the western development of Ballarat was the Lake Federation Resort, later known as Ballarat resort, proposed for 400 to 600 hectares between Cuthberts Rd and the Old Western Highway in 2002.

A $740 - $850 million plan, the resort proposed two first class golf courses, one built to international standards; 2,500-3,200 residential properties, a sports academy with bowls club, retirement village, hotel and conference facilities, a business hub, and a health and beauty centre.

Premier Steve Bracks hailed the development as "the biggest population growth project ever seen in regional Victoria." But the waters of the Lake soon became murky.

It ran into financial woes and opposition from other developers who had designs on the precinct. The City of Ballarat and then-planning minister Justin Madden rejected an amendment to to planning application for the project in 2009, with Cr Judy Verlin saying the environment had changed substantially in Ballarat West since the application first came before council.

"The Ballarat West growth zone cannot be compromised," Cr Verlin said. The developer Thorney Investments (part owner of The Courier through ACM) still holds the land.

Another golf-led vision was 2001's 'Golfpac' behemoth, where a consortium of local and national developers proposed an 'integrated resort and lifestyle' precinct in close proximity to the airport, involving the use of common land. The development again offered two golf courses, hotel, conference centre, office park and business centre, a retirement complex and residential housing.

It was also under the flight path. Nevertheless the City of Ballarat was supportive and prepared to enter into a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding with Golfpac and the state government. Council would not however consider the consortium being gifted the common land after copping a pasting over the airship proposal. The resort idea collapsed when planning and Native Title statutes could not be overcome.

4: A beer barn the size of BWEZ

It was billed as the 'World's Greenest Brewery', a $100 million environmentally-friendly brewery and gig venue in the Ballarat West Employment Zone. The Mildura-based brewer bought a 15-hectare site at BWEZ in 2017, paying $2.16 million for the land and promising to build bars and restaurants, and a museum and concert venue capable of accommodating a staggering 10,000 people.

Not even an empty stubby hit the ground, much less a shovel, before speculation became fact: the whole deal was froth and bubble. While council said it was looking to 'work with the Broo Brewery to ensure a very warm welcome', no development plans crossed the planning desk and by 2019 it was clear things were looking as flat as a day-old lager.

Broo has since put the land up for sale and may make a cool $5.3m on the deal, although the company is in a trading halt and the state government must approve the land sale. City of Ballarat councillors have argued Broo should be prevented from profiting on the deal.

5: Waste to Energy

A $300 million waste-to-energy project also planned for BWEZ was long on rhetoric and short on detail, but was allegedly an giant incinerator.

In 2018, the City of Ballarat announced it had signed a heads of agreement for a due diligence study with Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhard (MRCB), a Kuala-Lumpur-based construction company, to build the facility.

Billed as bringing $200m per annum to Ballarat and providing power, it was to be built with a Malaysian consortium.

It since has been quietly shelved.

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