First Australian-made rocket crashes after 14 seconds of flight in a failed attempt to reach orbit

The first Australian-made rocket to attempt to reach orbit from the country’s soil has crashed after 14 seconds of flight. The rocket Eris, launched by Gilmour Space, was the first Australian designed and manufactured orbital launch vehicle to lift off from the country. It launched Wednesday morning from a spaceport near the small town of Bowen in the north of Queensland state. In videos published by Australian news outlets the rocket appeared to hover in the air before falling out of sight. No one was reported hurt. CEO Adam Gilmour said he was “happy” the rocket “got off the pad.”