The first ever Australian made rocket is set to be launched from North Queensland by a Gold Coast company, bringing small satellite payloads to the skies and opening up a fresh industry. The atmosphere was bustling at an Abbott Point shed, just outside of Bowen, as the curtain was brought down on Australia’s first ever rocket, ready to be launched in the next few weeks.
Gold Coast based Gilmour Space Technologies has worked for the past four years to design rocket Eris, an orbital launch vehicle capable of bringing small satellites to the sky from their Bowen spaceport. Guests were given the tour of the spaceport shed where the rocket has been assembled, and taken through the launch control centre. It took two years ago to build, with the Australian Space Agency giving their final approval on the building this month. Gilmour Space are now only waiting the ‘go ahead’ to finally launch their rocket. Space is a huge opportunity for Australia’s north — our natural advantages in solar and wind power are well known, but there’s also a huge benefit of launching rockets closer to the equator, as they can take advantage of the Earth’s rotation and need less power to break through the atmosphere. Queensland’s huge east coast, with plenty of open space, is another big advantage, allowing the company to access what it calls ‘unique’ orbits.
What is going to be launched?
Rocket Eris is 23 metres tall, and two metres in diameter. The orbital launch vehicle has three stages. It should be able to deliver up to 305kg to ‘Low Orbit Earth’, sending satellites into space. Gilmour Space Technologies CEO Adam Gilmour said the company’s strategy consisted in learning from their mistakes, and they’re not expecting the rocket to successfully enter orbit at the first attempt. “Statistically, no first launch vehicle of any company, anywhere in the world has gone to orbit on the first attempt,” Mr Gilmour said. “And we don’t feel that lucky either. So for us, my minimum happy place is 10 seconds of engine burn time. “And then anything else beyond that is fantastic.”
The CEO said this was a big moment for Australia that had yet to jump on commercialising in the space industry. “It’s really important for Australia, because space is a big part of our overall infrastructure. You use space technology every day, multiple times a day, multiple times an hour. “What most people don’t realise is 100% of our space technology is provided by foreign nations and foreign companies.“And so we feel it’s important that we can start putting up our own [satellites] and have some resiliency in the nation.”
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick had a similar opinion. “Today Queensland boldly goes where no state has gone before,” the minister said. “So if you want to put a rocket into orbit, ask a Queenslander, if you want to reach to the stars ask a Queenslander to do the job and if you want to make history, you ask a Queenslander.”
A beacon of hope to the local community?
Director of Launch Vehicles and Satellites for Gilmour Space, David Doyle, said the spaceport’s construction had brought new activity to Whitsunday businesses, with local suppliers jumping on.
“We provide a bit of an avenue between what would be conventional or established industries into aerospace,” he said.
“And in some cases, or in a lot of cases, it’s not very far in terms of the difference.
“And we help those local suppliers and mobile companies realise that they actually can be a part of the space industry, and they’ve been incredibly supportive.” Whitsunday Regional Council’s recently elected mayor Ry Collins came to the launch on what he said was ‘day two’ in the job. Mr Collins said this was a great leap forward for the region as it would develop opportunities attractive enough to retain young North Queenslanders in the region. “They’ve already employed people here that have worked in our resources sector,” Mr Collins said. “So I think if you’re a young person, that’s going to school globally wondering about what your career options look like in our region, I think that they’re very bright”.
What’s the ambition?
Mr Gilmour said the launch of Eris would put Australia on the map in the space industry, with an abundance of customers needing to launch satellites worldwide. “We have customers from all over the world that can’t wait for us to get orbital capability.“ “They’re watching our next launch very carefully. ” Mr Gilmour discussed the potential to develop a new form of tourism in the Whitsundays, for people to come from all across the country to witness a rocket launch.
“Bowen is fantastic to go and watch, you can go to some hills and look directly down on the launch site.
“I definitely think it could be Australia’s Cape Canaveral”, he said, referring to the US’s most famous rocket launch site.
Director of Launch Vehicles and Satellites David Doyle explained the company’s development process had been to speed up the design and find ways to make the rocket as cheap as possible to build on their competitiveness on the market. “The intention behind the test flight is to learn as much as we can, as safely as possible, keeping the public and property safe. “And then to take those lessons away, and then come back and iterate on the vehicle to improve it and make sure that it gets to orbit the next time.”
Mr Doyle will be the one responsible to press the big button when the time comes to launch their first rocket but he says he’s not too stressed out about it. “My background is as a fighter pilot and as an experimental test pilot. So as far as understanding the risks and the consequences associated with these types of activities, I’m pretty familiar and comfortable with it.”
Traditional owners praise Gilmour Space for including them Juru Traditional Owner Trevor Prior thanked the Gilmour family for having included the traditional owners very early on in the process of building the launch site.
Mr Prior performed a smoking ceremony next to the rocket to “bring good luck” to the team in their endeavours.
Other Indigenous representatives were also at the launch site including Juru Traditional Owner Peta Ross.“They’ve come and seen us, they’ve engaged with us, that shows the spirit behind the family.
“We as the Juru People are thanking the Gilmours for doing that, because a lot of times we find when developers are coming, it’s at the last minute they’re thinking: ‘Oh, we have to see the traditional owners’.”
The company’s sign was also designed in consultation.
Gold Coast based Gilmour Space Technologies has worked for the past four years to design rocket Eris, an orbital launch vehicle capable of bringing small satellites to the sky from their Bowen spaceport. Guests were given the tour of the spaceport shed where the rocket has been assembled, and taken through the launch control centre. It took two years ago to build, with the Australian Space Agency giving their final approval on the building this month. Gilmour Space are now only waiting the ‘go ahead’ to finally launch their rocket. Space is a huge opportunity for Australia’s north — our natural advantages in solar and wind power are well known, but there’s also a huge benefit of launching rockets closer to the equator, as they can take advantage of the Earth’s rotation and need less power to break through the atmosphere. Queensland’s huge east coast, with plenty of open space, is another big advantage, allowing the company to access what it calls ‘unique’ orbits.
What is going to be launched?
Rocket Eris is 23 metres tall, and two metres in diameter. The orbital launch vehicle has three stages. It should be able to deliver up to 305kg to ‘Low Orbit Earth’, sending satellites into space. Gilmour Space Technologies CEO Adam Gilmour said the company’s strategy consisted in learning from their mistakes, and they’re not expecting the rocket to successfully enter orbit at the first attempt. “Statistically, no first launch vehicle of any company, anywhere in the world has gone to orbit on the first attempt,” Mr Gilmour said. “And we don’t feel that lucky either. So for us, my minimum happy place is 10 seconds of engine burn time. “And then anything else beyond that is fantastic.”
The CEO said this was a big moment for Australia that had yet to jump on commercialising in the space industry. “It’s really important for Australia, because space is a big part of our overall infrastructure. You use space technology every day, multiple times a day, multiple times an hour. “What most people don’t realise is 100% of our space technology is provided by foreign nations and foreign companies.“And so we feel it’s important that we can start putting up our own [satellites] and have some resiliency in the nation.”
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick had a similar opinion. “Today Queensland boldly goes where no state has gone before,” the minister said. “So if you want to put a rocket into orbit, ask a Queenslander, if you want to reach to the stars ask a Queenslander to do the job and if you want to make history, you ask a Queenslander.”
A beacon of hope to the local community?
Director of Launch Vehicles and Satellites for Gilmour Space, David Doyle, said the spaceport’s construction had brought new activity to Whitsunday businesses, with local suppliers jumping on.
“We provide a bit of an avenue between what would be conventional or established industries into aerospace,” he said.
“And in some cases, or in a lot of cases, it’s not very far in terms of the difference.
“And we help those local suppliers and mobile companies realise that they actually can be a part of the space industry, and they’ve been incredibly supportive.” Whitsunday Regional Council’s recently elected mayor Ry Collins came to the launch on what he said was ‘day two’ in the job. Mr Collins said this was a great leap forward for the region as it would develop opportunities attractive enough to retain young North Queenslanders in the region. “They’ve already employed people here that have worked in our resources sector,” Mr Collins said. “So I think if you’re a young person, that’s going to school globally wondering about what your career options look like in our region, I think that they’re very bright”.
What’s the ambition?
Mr Gilmour said the launch of Eris would put Australia on the map in the space industry, with an abundance of customers needing to launch satellites worldwide. “We have customers from all over the world that can’t wait for us to get orbital capability.“ “They’re watching our next launch very carefully. ” Mr Gilmour discussed the potential to develop a new form of tourism in the Whitsundays, for people to come from all across the country to witness a rocket launch.
“Bowen is fantastic to go and watch, you can go to some hills and look directly down on the launch site.
“I definitely think it could be Australia’s Cape Canaveral”, he said, referring to the US’s most famous rocket launch site.
Director of Launch Vehicles and Satellites David Doyle explained the company’s development process had been to speed up the design and find ways to make the rocket as cheap as possible to build on their competitiveness on the market. “The intention behind the test flight is to learn as much as we can, as safely as possible, keeping the public and property safe. “And then to take those lessons away, and then come back and iterate on the vehicle to improve it and make sure that it gets to orbit the next time.”
Mr Doyle will be the one responsible to press the big button when the time comes to launch their first rocket but he says he’s not too stressed out about it. “My background is as a fighter pilot and as an experimental test pilot. So as far as understanding the risks and the consequences associated with these types of activities, I’m pretty familiar and comfortable with it.”
Traditional owners praise Gilmour Space for including them Juru Traditional Owner Trevor Prior thanked the Gilmour family for having included the traditional owners very early on in the process of building the launch site.
Mr Prior performed a smoking ceremony next to the rocket to “bring good luck” to the team in their endeavours.
Other Indigenous representatives were also at the launch site including Juru Traditional Owner Peta Ross.“They’ve come and seen us, they’ve engaged with us, that shows the spirit behind the family.
“We as the Juru People are thanking the Gilmours for doing that, because a lot of times we find when developers are coming, it’s at the last minute they’re thinking: ‘Oh, we have to see the traditional owners’.”
The company’s sign was also designed in consultation.
