Australia’s first homegrown rocket crashes seconds after launch

Australia’s first-ever domestically built rocket crashed after staying in the air for just 14 seconds, on Wednesday, July 30.

The historical milestone of launching the first ever Australian built rocket, named Eris, from Bowen in North Queensland, was achieved by Gilmour Space Technologies. It has been revealed that the crashing of the rocket back to Earth was expected as part of the test.

Adam Gilmour, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said, “I am happy with the test flight result.”

The launch was aimed to get the rocket off the pad as it was sitting at the spaceport for more than a year.

Several attempts were made to launch Eris during the first half of 2025, however, all test flights were postponed due to external factors including technical issues and strong winds.

The Courier-Mail reported Gilmour saying, “The rocket wasn’t designed to sit in one spot and we wanted to get off the pad at minimum,” adding, “we had all four engines fire off nicely.”

“We cleared the pad successfully with no visible damage,” the CEO continued.

He also hoped that the company will prepare to launch another test flight within the next six months.

Australia has always played a key role in space exploration, however, the country has struggled to establish its own space industry.

According to Swinburne University’s Dr Rebecca Allen, the failure to build a strong national space industry is because of lack of sustained investment and a clear national strategy.