WASHINGTON — The first flight of an orbital rocket developed by an Australian company ended seconds after liftoff July 29 when the rocket crashed near its launch pad.
The Eris rocket, built by Gilmour Space Technologies, lifted off from the pad at the company’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport in northern Queensland at about 6:35 p.m. Eastern (8:35 a.m. local time July 30). The inaugural flight of the small launch vehicle was a test flight called simply TestFlight 1 by the company.
The flight did not last long. Video of the flight released by the company several hours later showed the vehicle struggling to clear the launch tower. The rocket drifted away from the pad before falling back to the ground and toppling over. The rocket did not appear to immediately explode, instead releasing clouds of propellant, but an unofficial livestream of the launch recorded an explosion moments later.
The company said in a statement about two and a half hours after liftoff that “key systems performed well until the anomaly,” but did not disclose details about the anomaly. Video of the launch appeared to show at least one of four hybrid engines — which use liquid oxidizer and solid fuel — had malfunctioned, producing little or no thrust.
Gilmour Space added that there were no injuries caused by the launch failure and no adverse environmental effects.
Despite lasting just 14 seconds, Gilmour Space considered the launch a major advance in the development of Eris. “Getting off the pad and into flight is a huge step forward for any new rocket program. This was the first real test of our rocket systems, our propulsion technology, and our spaceport — and it proved that much of what we’ve built works,” Adam Gilmour, chief executive of the company, said in the statement.
The launch was years in the making for Gilmour Space, founded in 2012. The three-stage rocket is designed to place up to 215 kilograms into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit and 305 kilograms into a 500-kilometer equatorial orbit. The company raised $55 million Australian ($36 million) in February 2024, which it said at the time would fund multiple launch attempts.
After extensive delays, Gilmour Space obtained a launch license from the Australian Space Agency in November 2024, setting it up to be the first Australian company to attempt an orbital launch. At the time the company hoped to launch before the end of 2024 but pushed the launch back multiple times for reasons ranging from weather conditions to the unplanned deployment of the rocket’s payload fairing while on the pad in May, an incident Gilmour Space later blamed on an “unexpected power surge” during launch preparations.
Failures of first launches of new rockets, particularly by new entrants, are not uncommon. In March, the first flight of the Spectrum small launch vehicle by Germany’s Isar Aerospace failed when the rocket lost attitude control about half a minute after liftoff from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport. The rocket tumbled back into waters next to the pad and exploded, but the company called the flight a success nonetheless because of the flight data it collected.
Gilmour Space took a similar approach to TestFlight 1. “Every test, especially the first, is a learning opportunity,” Adam Gilmour said in the statement.
He offered a similar sentiment in a social media post just after the launch. “Got off the Pad, I am happy. Of course I would have liked more flight time but happy with this.”