The first Australian made Rocket won’t be blasting off today, as scheduled, with Gilmour Space Technologies confirming it will postpone Test Flight 1 of Eris from Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland.
During final launch preparations last night, an electrical fault triggered the system that opens the rocket’s nose cone, with a replacement nose needed from their factory on the Gold Coast. A full investigation has also been launched into what caused the issue.
Gilmour Space says the incident happened before any fuel was loaded into the vehicle, and thankful no one was injured. There was also no damaged recorded to the rocket or the launch pad.
The test launch campaign has been postponed to fully understand what happened and make any necessary updates. It comes just a day after initial delays to the launch following an issue in the ground support system during overnight checks.
“While we’re disappointed by the delay, our team is already working on a solution, and we expect to be back at the pad soon,” a Gilmour Space spokesperson said.
Eris is set to be Australia’s first orbital launch attempt in over 50 years — and the first by an Australian-made rocket. While it’s capable of reaching orbit, Gilmour Space say that’s not the expectation for the first time. The mission is all about gathering critical data to improve future flights.
