First Australian-Made Rocket Crashes After 14 Seconds of Flight in Attempt to Reach Orbit

No one was reported hurt, and the company hailed the launch as a success.
Published: 7/30/2025, 6:10:58 AM EDT

The first Australian-made rocket to attempt to reach orbit from the country’s soil crashed on July 30 after 14 seconds of flight.

No one was reported hurt.

The rocket Eris, launched by Gilmour Space Technologies, was the first Australian-designed and manufactured orbital launch vehicle to lift off from the country and was designed to carry small satellites to orbit.

It launched Wednesday morning local time in a test flight from a spaceport near the small town of Bowen in the north of Queensland state.

In videos provided by Gilmour Space Technologies, the 75-foot rocket appeared to clear the launch tower and hovered in the air before crashing nearby.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising above the site.

The company hailed the launch as a success in a statement posted to Facebook.

A spokesperson said all four hybrid-propelled engines ignited, and the maiden flight lasted for 23 seconds of engine burn time and 14 seconds of flight.

Gilmour Space Technologies had planned launches of the rocket before, in May and earlier this month, but called off operations because of technical issues and bad weather.

CEO Adam Gilmour said in a statement that he was pleased the rocket got off the launchpad.

"Of course I would have liked more flight time, but happy with this," he wrote on LinkedIn. Gilmour said in February that it was "almost unheard of" for a private rocket company to successfully launch to orbit on its first attempt.

The firm had earlier said it would consider the launch a success if the rocket left the ground.

The launch site infrastructure "remained intact," the statement said.

Gilmour Space Technologies has private funders and was also this month awarded a 5 million Australian dollar ($3.2 million) grant from the country's federal government for the development of the Eris rocket.

It followed the firm's AU$52 million grant agreement with the government in 2023 to advance the development and commercialization of new space technologies in Australia.

The country has been the site of hundreds of suborbital vehicle launches, but there have only been two successful launches to orbit from Australia before, according to the aerospace news platform NASASpaceFlight.

The maiden Eris test flight was the first orbital launch attempt from Australia in more than 50 years.