The Australian company Gilmour Space plans to conduct a second launch of the Eris rocket in 2026 — following an unsuccessful first attempt that took place in July this year. The flight lasted only 14 seconds and ended with the rocket crashing.
Adam Gilmore, CEO and co-founder of the company, discussed plans during his speech at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney. According to him, the TestFlight1 mission, despite its failure, was an important milestone in the development of private spaceflight in Australia and laid the foundation for the first successful space launch from the country.
"We had 14 seconds of flight and 23 seconds of engine operation. Of course, we gathered a lot of data, a lot of information, and we were quite satisfied with the result," Gilmore noted. He also added that, on average, rocket companies require three attempts to achieve orbit.
The development of Eris took several years and was accompanied by challenges in engineering, financing, and licensing. Just to obtain launch permits, the company had to go through 24 approvals with the Queensland authorities and receive approval from environmental agencies.
"We traveled 2000 kilometers into the heart of Australia, to an area that I think looks very much like the surface of Mars. When we launched the rocket, many media outlets wrote that Gilmour launched the rocket from a cow pasture. I was offended at the time, but when you get there, you really do see cows," Gilmore joked.
Now that the infrastructure is ready and interaction with regulators is established, the company plans to resume testing next year. "We intend to conduct another launch and will keep trying again and again. There are already companies in Australia ready to become our clients — they have satellites that need a launcher," Gilmore emphasized.
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