Founder Adam Gilmour declared afterwards that he would have liked more flight time but was happy with the performance, which you can watch below on an unofficial video.
He had previously warned the initial blast-off was likely to end in failure and admitted that a flight time of 20 or 30 seconds would be “fantastic”.
Eris is a three-stage orbital vehicle and the first to be almost entirely Australian-designed and manufactured.
A successful launch would mark one of the most significant moments in the local sector’s history and the first orbital blast-off in 50 years from Australian soil.
The attempt on Wednesday was during the fourth formal launch window that opened this year, with other tries being mostly cancelled due to bad weather. Gilmour had initially hoped to blast off Eris in April last year.
The news comes shortly after the business received a new $5 million grant from the federal government to accelerate the development of its next-generation liquid rocket engine.
The investment is the maximum available under the $392 million Industry Growth Program and comes despite founder Adam Gilmour strongly criticising the Australian Space Agency last year.
The Industry Growth Program, unveiled in 2023, aims to help small businesses commercialise and grow their companies. Its unveiling came in response to a report that suggested businesses in Australia face barriers to scaling up.
Only one other firm has received the maximum grant of $5 million, with grants starting at $50,000 to $250,000 to support early-stage projects.
Gilmour previously received $52 million from the federal government to lead a space manufacturing network in Australia, but has also raised millions itself, including $55 million in a Series D funding round last year.
Despite its own launch trouble, the company blasted off its first satellite bus, ElaraSat, on SpaceX’s Transporter 14 rideshare mission in June.
While engineers were initially warned that it could take up to four days to establish contact with ElaraSat, they eventually received the all-clear within eight hours.
“The fact that we can put it up in a space successfully and test it will be a big milestone for the company,” Gilmour said.
The 100-kilogram satellite platform is carrying a hyperspectral imager from CSIRO that can monitor algae in Queensland’s rivers and lakes.
The successful mission means the company joins Fleet, Inovor, Space Machines Company, and Skykraft in locally building satellite or satellite buses (effectively the fuselage or main body of the spacecraft).
More to follow
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.