Australia’s First Home-Grown Orbital Rocket Crashes After 14 Seconds in the Air

Gilmour Space’s Eris rocket goes up in flames over Queensland as engineers insist it’s still a ‘milestone’

It was meant to be a moment of pride for Australia’s emerging space industry. But just 14 seconds after liftoff, the country’s first serious attempt to send a domestically built rocket into orbit ended in a fiery crash.

The rocket, named Eris, barely cleared the launchpad at Queensland’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport before it lost altitude and slammed back to the ground. A plume of smoke was all that remained.

14 Seconds That Burned Millions

The Eris rocket was launched by Gilmour Space Technologies, a Queensland-based aerospace company that has been hyped as the future of Australia’s independent space ambitions. At 23 metres tall, Eris was built to carry small satellites into orbit.

It didn’t make it anywhere near that far.

The rocket lifted smoothly at first, igniting all four of its Sirius engines — a feat Gilmour still celebrated — before tilting, faltering, and then crashing with a boom that startled nearby onlookers.

In all, the rocket stayed airborne for just 14 seconds.

Gilmour confirmed the vehicle was destroyed. But they emphasized one point repeatedly: the engine ignition was successful.

Why This Launch Mattered Anyway

The failure stings, but in the context of new space programs, it’s not entirely unexpected. First launches are often riddled with problems. SpaceX, now a giant in the industry, suffered multiple crashes in its early years.

Gilmour Space sees itself as Australia’s answer to SpaceX — but with smaller ambitions. Instead of ferrying astronauts, Eris was designed to launch micro and nanosatellites.

Their CEO, Adam Gilmour, didn’t sugarcoat the moment. “This is a tough day, no doubt,” he said in a press briefing. “But it’s also a historic one. We lit the engines. We took off. And we’ll be back.”

He added that teams are already pouring over telemetry and footage to figure out what went wrong.

Here’s what the attempted launch was aiming to achieve:

• Prove the functionality of all-new hybrid rocket engines

• Validate launch infrastructure at Bowen spaceport

• Demonstrate Australia’s capacity for vertical launch operations

• Win commercial interest for future satellite customers

A Start-Up Under Pressure

Gilmour Space isn’t just building rockets — it’s also building expectations. The company has secured over A$100 million in investment over the past five years, including support from the Australian government.

The Eris rocket was supposed to show that those bets were worth it.

They’ve received grants from the Australian Space Agency and backing from the Department of Defence. In many ways, this launch was more than a technical milestone — it was a political one too.

One aerospace policy expert put it like this: “It’s one thing to test engines. It’s another to put something in the sky and not have it come down in a fireball.”

Ouch.

What Happens Next?

Failure isn’t fatal in the rocket world. In fact, it’s often the norm.

Gilmour Space says it will continue working on its next Eris mission. The current rocket — officially called Eris Block 1 — was intended as a testbed. The goal is to fly commercial payloads by late 2026.

But the company will now need to convince both investors and regulators that the failure was controlled, and fixable.

“There’s a difference between an explosion on the pad and a rocket that flies and fails,” said a former NASA engineer watching the video. “They lit all engines. That’s no small feat.”

Still, the image of a burning rocket crashing back to Earth is going to be tough to shake.

Global Scrutiny and Local Pride

International media were quick to seize on the dramatic footage. Some headlines focused on the “smoke and crash” angle. Others, especially in Australia, chose to highlight the significance of the moment — flaws and all.

Local engineers and space fans were split between disappointment and optimism. One tweet summed it up: “It’s a start. A fiery, expensive start. But still a start.”

In the broader context, the launch reflects Australia’s ambition to join the handful of countries with independent orbital launch capacity. And that dream, while delayed, isn’t dead.

Meanwhile, comparisons to other space-faring nations are inevitable. A quick glance:

So, Australia has now officially entered the list. Maybe not with a bang of triumph, but certainly with a bang.