Gilmour Space Technologies’ primary engine development and rocket integration center in Pimpama, Queensland, as seen on June 2, 2017. Credit: Adam Gilmour/Gilmour Space Technologies. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mission Highlight: Gilmour Space eyes new Eris TestFlight 1 launch date
Gilmour Space Technologies is preparing to make history this week with the first orbital test flight of its Australian-built Eris rocket, set to lift off between July 2 and 3 from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland. The mission, TestFlight 1, will carry a small camera and a symbolic jar of Vegemite — a cheeky payload that will not return to Earth if the launch reaches orbit.
“This will be quite momentous,” Gilmour propulsion engineer Kody Cook said in a recent interview with State Library Queensland (SLQ), adding, “This will be the first time in Australia’s history that we have an Australian-developed, manufactured, assembled, tested rocket that has the ability to go into orbit and launching from Australian soil.”
The rocket itself is an 82-foot-tall (25 meters), three-stage hybrid-propellant vehicle powered by Gilmour’s proprietary Sirius and Phoenix engines. The first and second stages use Sirius hybrid engines — solid fuel with liquid oxidizer — while the third stage features a Phoenix liquid rocket engine. The vehicle has stood vertically on the pad since April 2024, and is capable of delivering up to 305 kilograms to low-Earth orbit, according to Gilmour’s official specs.
Two earlier launch attempts in May were scrubbed due to technical issues. The first, on May 15, was halted by a problem with the ground support system, while the second, on May 16, ended when an electrical fault caused the rocket’s nose cone to open unexpectedly about 30 minutes before the launch window opened. Engineers also had to address sensor issues and redesign the payload fairing. After the second delay, CEO Adam Gilmour admitted to 7News, “I’m kind of almost sick of this rocket.”
Founded in 2013 by brothers Adam and James Gilmour, the Queensland-based company raised $55 million in early 2024 to advance its domestic rocket and satellite manufacturing, according to a Feb. 19, 2024, media release from Gilmour. Operating from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Gilmour has created over 100 jobs in Queensland and aims to grow to 300 by 2027. Co-founder and CEO Adam Gilmour said in the press release that the funding will help “enhance Australia’s sovereign space and defense capabilities,” while Deputy Chief Engineer Kody Cook, in the SLQ Game Changers interview, highlighted the goal of being able to “start building stuff for our need and not being so reliant on other countries.”
While orbital success on a first attempt is rare, even a brief flight would provide critical data. “No privately funded first orbital launch has ever been successful,” Chief Financial Officer Ashley Hasforth told SLQ. “To tell people that 10 seconds or getting off the pad is a success is hard to believe, but from that time we can get so much data that will put us in such a good place for future launches,” Hasforth explained. Cook added that a hybrid engine failure is less dramatic than the public might expect: “Likely the rocket would just tip over a little bit, fall on the pad, and just smolder. … It’ll do a little pop, but it’ll be probably the least exciting rocket explosion you’ve seen in your life.”
Gilmour plans to eventually evolve the Eris platform into a monthly launch vehicle. “By the time we get to around about our 1.4 model, we want that to be a launch rocket that we can build and launch one every month,” Cook said to SLQ. That upgraded vehicle would carry up to 880 pounds (400 kilograms) and serve commercial clients with up to three satellites per launch. From there, the company hopes to develop medium-lift rockets for multi-ton payloads — a big leap from launching Vegemite.
Last week’s recap
On Wednesday, June 25, Axiom Mission 4 successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center, carrying an international crew to the International Space Station. The Ax-4 crew docked smoothly and began a two-week stay aboard the ISS.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-33 mission launched from West Texas on Sunday, June 29, flying six passengers — including conservationists Allie and Carl Kuehner — on a brief suborbital journey. This flight marked the company’s 13th human mission using the reusable New Shepard rocket, bringing the total number of people it has carried to space to 70.
Japan’s H-2A rocket made its 50th and final flight on Saturday, June 28, successfully launching the GOSAT-GW satellite from Tanegashima Space Center to a Sun-synchronous orbit. GOSAT-GW is an Earth-observation satellite equipped with advanced instruments to monitor greenhouse gases and the global water cycle. Japan is retiring the H-2A rocket, replacing it with the H-3 model.
Rocket Lab successfully launched its Electron rocket on Thursday, June 26, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission, called “Get The Hawk Outta Here,” deployed four HawkEye 360 satellites with advanced global radio-frequency monitoring capabilities.
Less than 48 hours later, on Saturday, June 28, Rocket Lab launched a second Electron rocket from the same site for a mission called “Symphony in the Stars” — the fastest turnaround time yet for the company from that site. The mission was Rocket Lab’s fourth mission in June and 10th this year, further establishing the company’s credentials as a leader in the small launch market.
Other missions this week
MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A will lift off July 1 from Cape Canaveral atop a Falcon 9, delivering Europe’s next-generation weather satellite and atmospheric sensor to geostationary transfer orbit.
Starlink Group 10-25 is scheduled to launch that night in the early hours of July 2 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9, carrying another batch of Starlink v2-mini satellites to low Earth orbit.
Progress MS-31 is set to launch on July 3 on a Soyuz 2.1a from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying cargo and supplies to the International Space Station.
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, the launch calendar is currently clear for the week of July 7–13, but that could easily change. Rocket launches are famously temperamental, often shifting due to weather, last-minute technical issues, or adjustments in scheduling priorities. It’s not uncommon for missions to appear or disappear from the manifest with little notice, so stay tuned as providers firm up plans and conditions evolve.
