Australia is on the cusp of a major space milestone as Gilmour Space Technologies prepares to launch the nation’s first domestically designed and manufactured orbital rocket from Australian soil.
Image credit: Gilmour Space
On Tuesday, May 13, the Queensland-based aerospace company announced that its Eris-1 rocket had cleared its final launch readiness review (LRR) and secured regulatory approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). With these critical milestones behind it, the Eris-1 vehicle is now positioned on the launch pad at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northern Queensland, awaiting liftoff.
The inaugural launch window for Eris-1 opens at 5:30 p.m. EDT on May 14 (2130 GMT; 7:30 a.m. local time on May 15), lasting for 10 hours. The mission, dubbed TestFlight1, will mark the first-ever attempt to send an Australian-built rocket into orbit from within the country’s borders.
“LRR was the last major review of rocket, payload, range & weather,” Gilmour Space confirmed in a social media post, signaling the green light for the historic countdown.
Standing 82 feet (25 meters) tall, the three-stage Eris-1 rocket is engineered to deliver payloads of up to 474 pounds (215 kilograms) into sun-synchronous orbit. The maiden flight will serve as a testbed for the company’s innovative propulsion systems and rocket design, with engineers focused on collecting performance data — regardless of how far the vehicle travels into space.
“Whether we make it off the pad, reach max Q, or get all the way to space, what's important is that every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket's reliability and performance for future launches,” said co-founder and CEO Adam Gilmour in an earlier statement.
Originally scheduled to launch on March 15, the mission was delayed due to the development of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which posed safety risks to the launch campaign.
Since its founding in 2015, Gilmour Space has grown into one of Australia’s leading space innovators, employing more than 200 staff at its Gold Coast headquarters. The Eris rocket and the Bowen Orbital Spaceport are the products of a largely domestic development effort, supported by a national supply chain of over 300 Australian companies — a point of pride for the startup.
As Australia aims to expand its role in the global space economy, the success of Eris-1 could signal the start of a new era in sovereign space capability. If all goes well, Gilmour Space will not only make history with this launch but also establish itself as a key player in the international small satellite launch market.
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