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Gilmour Space Technologies says it will now open the launch window for its Eris rocket on 15 May after getting the nod from CASA, following multiple delays blamed on Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
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In an update on Sunday, the Queensland-based firm said it had received approval from the regulator and is now waiting for final clearance from the Australian Space Agency. Gilmour had said it was likely to conduct its maiden blast-off in April, a delay from mid-March.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred all but shut down large parts of South-East Queensland and northern NSW for days when it touched down on 7 March.
Previously, Gilmour said it planned to have 50 staff based at its Bowen spaceport to help conduct the blast-off, which will be arguably the most significant moment in the sector’s history.
Eris is a three-stage orbital vehicle and the first to be almost entirely Australian-designed and manufactured.
Gilmour has been developing it for over eight years and believes it could 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.
The news of a new blast-off date comes after the federal government relaxed the laws around launches in February 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 said 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,” Enrico Palermo, head of the Australian Space Agency, said.
“These changes will remove inefficiency and improve flexibility without compromising safety.”
Australia is currently home to four spaceports: Equatorial Launch Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre in the Northern Territory, Gilmour Space Technologies’ Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland, Southern Launch’s orbital Whalers Way facility, and suborbital Koonibba Test Range in South Australia.
A fifth, by Space Centre Australia, is planned for Far North Queensland, while ELA also hopes to move its spaceport to a similar location.
