Australia’s first orbital-class rocket didn’t make it far off the launch pad

In a press release, Gilmour Space qualified the first Eris test flight “an important step to offer low -cost and reactive launch services for small satellites around the world”.

“Congratulations to the Gilmour team for today’s success,” said Enrico Palermo, head of Australian Space Agency. “It is rare that the first launches reach orbit. This is part of the innovation cycle and why you test. We are looking forward to the following phases of the test program.”

Failure diagnosis

Gilmour engineers determined that propulsion failures were the likely cause for the accident.

“All the data we have currently comes from what we have seen on videos, and it seems that an engine failed in the first seconds of the flight,” said Gilmour in an interview with Ars. “Then, the rocket has enough power to climb with three engines, and the control system was doing a wonderful job to keep it vertical. But I think that when we somehow erased the tower, a second engine seemed to have failed, and that is when we could not continue, and we have become again.”

Hybrid engines are an unconventional choice for an orbital class rocket. They generally do not produce as much push as conventional solid or liquid rockets. But they are less complex than liquid engines, and unlike a solid rocket engine, hybrid engines can be strangled or deactivated if there is a problem.

The Gilmour team of more than 200 employees designed and developed most of the ERIS rocket, including engines, structures, planeic, software and space itself. Most company engineers are new in the space industry, but Gilmour staff include a handful of veterans from other rocket companies, including Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, Virgin Orbit and Avio.

“Most of what we do, we develop to the hard, with pure R&D, with failure,” said Gilmour.