The green light from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority follows the company being granted a launch licence in November and approval to use its North Queensland spaceport almost a year ago.
Gilmour said it plans to have 50 staff based at its Bowen spaceport to help conduct the blast-off, with a two-week launch window now pencilled in.
The lift-off will be a hugely significant moment for the local space industry, with its three-stage vehicle being the first Australian-designed and manufactured orbital rocket.
Speaking at a conference in Canberra, founder Adam Gilmour said, “It’s the first time we have formally set a launch date, both with the regulators and internally in the company. There’s a buzz that it’s all getting real.
“People have to be on their toes and get everything ready and overcome issues that come up very quickly.”
The company has been developing Eris for eight years and hopes to address a gap in the global market for small satellite launches.
It had planned for an inaugural blast-off in April 2024 but faced a lengthy delay in obtaining its final permit from the Australian Space Agency, which came to an end two months ago. Previously, a date of late mid-January had been muted.
PROMOTED CONTENT
The news comes weeks after the federal government relaxed the laws around launches to better consider the high likelihood of failure.
The changes to the Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 include an amendment that means that if no property is destroyed, a longer investigation can now be avoided in the event of an explosion.
Gilmour has repeatedly stressed that the initial blast-off of Eris is likely to end in failure, while SpaceX engineers in 2023 famously celebrated when the first launch of Starship ended in failure.
“This is the second round of reforms over the past 18 months to the act, which will support our fast-moving and highly commercialised space sector,” said Enrico Palermo, the head of the Australian Space Agency.
“These changes will remove inefficiency and improve flexibility without compromising safety.”
In a LinkedIn post, Gilmour called the amendments “positive news” and said they would bring Australia’s regulations closer to the US and those of other nations.
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.
Receive the latest developments and updates on Australia’s space industry direct to your inbox. Subscribe today to Space Connect here.
