Gilmour Space is preparing once more to launch its homegrown Eris rocket, which is poised to become the first orbital launch from Australian soil by a sovereign-built vehicle. The company was planning to launch on Wednesday, July 16, at 7:30 AM AEST (21:30 UTC on Tuesday, July 15) but has since pushed back the attempt to no earlier than July 26, citing operational delays and upper wind forecasts for the rest of this week.
The company stood down from its initial plans to launch two months earlier on May 16, after the vehicle’s fairings had been prematurely triggered by the separation system during overnight launch preparations. An unexpected power surge from other devices downstream had caused the vehicle to shut down, causing the issue. Replacement fairings were quickly dispatched from the company’s Gold Coast facility and the team has since worked to mitigate the problem.