Australia’s first homegrown orbital rocket crashes just seconds after takeoff PHOTO

Australia’s first domestically designed and manufactured rocket, aiming to reach orbit, failed just seconds after liftoff on July 30, crashing back to Earth 14 seconds into its maiden flight.

The Eris rocket, developed by Queensland-based company Gilmour Space Technologies, was launched from a facility near the small town of Bowen in northern Queensland, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.

Designed to deliver small satellites into orbit, the 23-meter (75-foot) rocket lifted off, marking a historic moment as the first orbital-class launch vehicle built and launched from Australian soil.

Footage broadcast by local media showed the rocket clearing the launch tower before appearing to stall and then disappear from view. Moments later, plumes of smoke rose from the site. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.

Despite the brief flight, the company characterised the test as a milestone. In a statement on Facebook, Gilmour Space Technologies said all four of the rocket’s hybrid-propelled engines successfully ignited. The rocket achieved 23 seconds of engine burn, 14 of which were in flight.

This was not the first attempt to launch Eris. Earlier planned launches in May and again this month were aborted due to unfavourable weather and technical difficulties.

Company CEO Adam Gilmour expressed optimism despite the early failure. Posting on LinkedIn, he wrote, “Of course I would have liked more flight time, but happy with this.” Back in February, Gilmour noted that it was “almost unheard of” for private space companies to succeed in reaching orbit on their first attempt.

Gilmour Space had earlier defined success for this test mission simply as getting the rocket off the ground. The firm also confirmed that the infrastructure at the launch site sustained no damage during the event.

Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Ry Collins echoed the sentiment, praising the effort. “This is an important first step towards the giant leap of a future commercial space industry right here in our region,” he said on Facebook, calling the completed liftoff a “huge achievement.”

The Eris rocket program is backed by private investors and public funding. Earlier in July, the Australian federal government granted the company AU$5 million (around $3.2 million) to support rocket development. That followed a larger AU$52 million grant agreement in 2023 aimed at promoting the growth of the nation’s space technology sector.

Although Australia has hosted hundreds of suborbital rocket launches, the country has seen only two successful orbital launches to date, according to NASASpaceFlight. The Eris launch was the first attempt to reach orbit from Australian territory in over five decades.

By Tamilla Hasanova