It’s ‘all systems go’ for Gilmour Space, with the Queensland-based space launch company receiving the final approval needed to conduct its first launch.
The date for that launch — the maiden flight of Eris, the first Australian-designed and built rocket able to place a payload into Earth orbit — has now been set for no earlier than 15 March.
The final regulatory hurdle was leapt after airspace approvals were obtained from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia.
Gilmour Space ‘made history’ last March last year when it was granted the first orbital launch facility licence in Australia, for its spaceport at Bowen in Queensland.
This was followed in November when it secured a launch permit for Eris TestFlight 1, the first such permit issued in Australia.
“This will be the first attempt of an Australian rocket to reach orbit from Australian soil,” said Adam Gilmour, co-founder and CEO of Gilmour Space.
Gilmour has set expectations reasonably low for the first launch, saying that he would not be surprised it if failed in some way. That’s the nature of rocket development, he says.
“It’s almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time,” he said.
“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.”
But taking the long view, Gilmour says that the launching of Australian-owned and controlled rockets from home soil will mean more jobs, greater security, economic growth and technological independence.
“Only six countries in the world are launching regularly to space using their own technology, and Australia could soon” join them, he said.
The development of sovereign space capabilities, including launch services, has been cited time and again as being of vital importance to Australia in general, and the geospatial sector in particular.
Gilmour Space is backed by private investors including Blackbird, Main Sequence, Fine Structure Ventures, Queensland Investment Corporation, and superannuation funds such as HESTA, Hostplus and NGS Super.
