Gilmour Space Technologies set to launch Australia's first home-grown orbital rocket

Australia Broadcast Center

14-05-2025

The first Australian-built orbital rocket could enter space from Thursday.
It is expected to lift off from a launch pad built in a north Queensland cattle paddock.
Here is everything you need to know.
The rocket, named Eris, is set to be launched from Bowen.
The test flight could potentially carry a ceremonial jar of Vegemite into orbit during an eight-minute flight over the Coral Sea.
It is expected to crash land into the ocean.
Authorities have given flight clearance between 7.30am and 5.30pm on Thursday, which will continue until Monday.
While rockets were launched in Australia as early as 1967, none have been locally made, according to Australian National University astrophysicist Brad Tucker.
"Not only has Gilmour built the rocket, but they had to build the Bowen Spaceport for launches as well," Dr Tucker says.
Gilmour Space Technologies says it has spent four-and-a-half years working on the rocket that is about the same height as a seven-storey building.
The 30,000-kilogram rocket stands on the company's purpose-built Bowen Orbital Spaceport, built on a cow paddock.
Gilmour says the maximum speed of the rocket will be about 27,500kph.
Staff are aiming to get it about 200 kilometres above Earth's surface for the first flight.
The company, which has been described as Australia's answer to Elon Musk's SpaceX, is based on the Gold Coast.
It is run by brothers Adam and James Gilmour, who co-founded the company in 2013 with a team of about a dozen people.
Valued at more than $600 million it now employs about 200 engineers, with plans to launch satellites from Bowen on an ongoing commercial basis.
Gilmour Space Technologies says the launch will not be live streamed.
And while there is no official viewing point, the rocket may be visible from Bowen beaches and high points in the area.
The area near the Abbot Point launch site will be restricted to vehicles and drones.
An exclusion area will also be set for boats under the rocket's flight path.
The ABC will be broadcasting live from Bowen, nearby the launch site, on ABC North Queensland on the ABC Listen App.
We can not be sure whether it will launch on Thursday.
Company chief executive David Gilmour says the long-awaited launch can not be confirmed until the day and is subject to calm wind conditions.
"Thursday to Sunday is [forecast to have] some of the best winds for months … so if the forecasts hold true, we're looking good," he says.
"We monitor the wind about three hours before the launch window opens."
Mr Gilmour says the company is able to make multiple launch attempts because of the rocket's technology.
"The benefit of our propulsion technology is if we don't get off the pad, we don't blow up," Mr Gilmour says.
"What we can do is bring the rocket back down, just build some new engines, put them back on and have another crack and we think that'll be about two months later."
Mr Gilmour says a small herd of cattle near the launch site are likely to have some of the best views.
"We talked to the person that's managing the cows, and they're not too worried about them," he says.
"They'll have a better view than us.
"We can't get that close."
Tourists are also interested in the launch, according to Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Tim Booth, who says future launches by the company can attract visitors.
"Over time, this will really become a [tourism] category in-and-of itself," he says.
North Queensland boaties keen to watch the launch have been urged to navigate with extreme caution to stay out of the path of potential space launch debris.
The company says it chose Abbot Point to the north of Bowen township because it is sparsely populated.
The existing industrial site also takes advantage of its proximity to the equator which will allow the rocket to pick up speed from Earth's rotation.