Gilmour Space Technology’s Eris Block 1 rocket pictured at the launchpad at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Australia. Image: Gilmour Space
Spaceflight is gearing up to introduce commercial, orbital spaceflight to Australia in the coming months. On Tuesday, Gilmour Space Technologies announced it received a launch permit from the Australian Space Agency and the Minister for Industry and Science for the inaugural launch of its three-stage Eris rocket.
The rocket will launch from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in north Queensland in the northeastern part of the country. Part of the permit necessitates a 30-day notification prior to the designated launch date.
“With this green light, we will soon attempt the first orbital test flight of an Australian-made rocket from Australian soil,” said Adam Gilmour, the co-founder and CEO of Gilmour Space. “Our team is assessing the conditions of the permit and will advise on the anticipated launch date for Eris TestFlight1 in the coming weeks.”
The rocket was brought vertical at the launchpad for the first time back on April 11 with the hopes that a launch would come by May 4. However, the first launch may still wait until either December or January before taking flight.
On Sept. 30, Gilmour Space completed its first successful wet dress rehearsal of the rocket, going through a countdown to T-minus 10 seconds. The company said the TestFlight1 mission “will be the first of several planned test launches to reach orbit with Eris.”
Update: Gilmour Space has completed a successful wet dress rehearsal for Eris #Testflight1, taking our Eris rocket from VAB to T-10 seconds before launch…
(Video snapshot: Stage 2 vernier testing) pic.twitter.com/98EITFtA4J
— Gilmour Space (@GilmourSpace) September 30, 2024
Three stages to orbit.
The Block 1 Eris rocket is 25 m (82 ft) tall with a diameter of 2 m (6.6 ft) for the first stage booster and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) on the second stage. It features a payload fairing with a diameter of either 1.2 m (3.9 ft) or 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in diameter.
The company said Eris is capable of delivering “up to 305 kg (672.4 lbs) to [low Earth orbit].” The first stage features four of its Sirius hybrid rocket engines with a fifth on the second stage. Those engines use a proprietary solid fuel and a liquid oxidiser. Gilmour Space qualified the engines back in November 2022.
Eris’ third stage is powered by its 3D-printed Phoenix engine, which is fueled by a rocket-grade kerosene and uses liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. Gilmour Space shared a video of a 190-second mission duty cycle test fire back in May 2022.
Gilmour Space said its rocket will be capable of launching “20- to 65-degree, low to mid inclination equatorial orbits” once it certifies its rocket.
A rendering of the mission patch for the Eris TestFlight-1 launch. Graphic: Gilmour Space