by Credit: X/@Gilmourspace
An Australian orbital rocket with a glass of vegemite in the nose cone fell on Wednesday after 14 seconds flight.
Gilmour Space Technologies, the aerospace company behind the start, tries to send the first rocket produced in Australia to the country.
The company had previously said that it would be a success if the rocket left the ground.
“I am so relieved that they couldn’t believe,” said Adam Gilmour, managing director of the aerospace company, the AFP news agency. “I was so nervous that it got out of the pad that when I screamed with joy.”
The film material shows that the rocket hardly eliminates the top of the starting tower and hovers briefly above the floor before the steam runs out.
Gilmour Space Technologies said that the start was a success if the rocket would leave the ground – Gilmour Space Technologies
The 23-meter vehicle, with which small satellites were able to start the orbit with low earth, started from Abbot Point, about 1000 kilometers from Brisbane, from Brisbane.
The payload for the test flight was a glass vegemite, a popular Australian spread that was strapped into the nasal cone of the rocket.
Mr. Gilmour said the preparations for a second test flight were already underway to start within the next “six to eight months”.
“It is great that you can prove with only 10 to 15 seconds flight time,” he said.
He added: “I’m sorry that the veggemite did not make it.”
Millions in grants
The company, which has 230 employees, hopes to start in the late 2026 or early 2027 commercial starts.
Gilmour Space Technologies has private donors and received this month from the state’s federal government with a grant of five million Australian dollars (2.4 million GBP) for the development of the Eris rocket.
This was followed by a grant of $ 52 million (GBP 25.3 million) with the government in 2023 in order to promote the development and marketing of new space technologies in Australia.
The country was the location of hundreds of suborbital vehicles, but according to the Aerospace News platform NasaspaceFlight, two successful starts have already been carried out in the orbit of Australia.
The ERIS test flight was the first orbital start -up attempt from Australia for more than 50 years.
