Australia’s 1st orbital rocket, Gilmour Space’s Eris, fails on historic debut launch

Australia achieved a major milestone with its first homegrown orbital rocket launch attempt on July 29, as Gilmour Space launched its Eris‑1 rocket from Queensland’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport. The rocket lifted off but veered sideways and crashed just 14 seconds later. Despite the failure, Gilmour Space called it a significant step, collecting valuable data to improve future missions. This marked the first orbital launch attempt from Australian soil in over 50 years, Space.com has reported. Founded in 2015, Gilmour Space aims to make Australia a key player in space, also developing satellites like the recently launched ElaraSat.