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Gilmour Space says that their first try at achieving orbit with an all-Australian rocket will be no earlier than (NET in space-talk) this Thursday, May 15.

(Gilmour Space photo)

Thursday's launch was pushed back due to an unspecified ground support problem.

Eris-1 is now set to launch on Friday morning. Which due to Australia's location on the other side of the International Date Line is today!

Unfortunately, there will be no livestream. Gilmour says this is their, and the Bowen Orbital Spaceport's, first launch and they are concentrating on that. They promise that they will have video afterwards.

https://www.gspace.com/missions

(Gilmour Space photo)



nsNS

I just discovered what the payload is for the inaugural test-flight of Australia's first totally home-grown orbital rocket!

A jar of VEGEMITE, mate!!!

What's more Aussie than that??

Scrub!!

https://www.gspace.com/missions

Gilmour Space says

TESTFLIGHT 1 POSTPONED DUE TO PRE-LAUNCH ANOMALY

During final launch preparations last night, an electrical fault triggered the system that opens the rocket’s nose cone (the payload fairing).

This happened before any fuel was loaded into the vehicle. Most importantly, no one was injured, and early checks show no damage to the rocket or the launch pad.

We have a replacement nose cone in our factory on the Gold Coast that will be sent to the launch site and installed after a full investigation into what caused the issue.

As a result, we'll be postponing this test launch campaign to fully understand what happened and make any necessary updates.

​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.

We’ll share a new TestFlight1 date once it’s confirmed.

Ad Astra

The jar of Vegemite is reported to be safe!

Gilmour Space says

"We’ve completed our investigation into the payload fairing anomaly on May 15.

What happened?

The payload fairing was triggered during a vehicle shutdown by an unexpected power surge, caused by electrical backfeed from downstream devices.

We’re installing safeguards, which will be verified in a system test before the next flight.

A new "No Earlier Than" (NET) launch window for TestFlight1 will be shared once confirmed.

(And no, it wasn’t the cockatoo. ?)"'

https://x.com/GilmourSpace/status/1928385214604005706

There will be a live stream!

Gilmour is live!

Link to the stream is in the post above.

Audio too low on this end to understand anything.

Scrubbed yet again for Tuesday, which is already done and over in terms of Australian time (Wednesday there, in the early morning).

Winds force Gilmour Space to cancel historic Queensland rocket launch
https://7news.com.au/news/winds-force-gi...c-19511696

EXCERPT: Australia’s first homegrown orbital rocket has been forced to stay grounded after strong winds blew Gilmour Space Technologies’ historic mission off course.

The 23-metre Eris rocket had been on the pad at Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland, ready to blast off during a launch window between 1.30pm and 5.30pm on Tuesday.

But at 3.22pm, chief executive Adam Gilmour confirmed the mission was cancelled.

“Scrubbing for the day. Can’t get past the wind limits. Will try again tomorrow,” Gilmour posted on LinkedIn.

The team had been “getting whacked by winds” at 4–5km altitude, just above the safety threshold.

Tomorrow’s not promising. 7NEWS Queensland meteorologist Tony Auden said the outlook for Wednesday has not improved.

“Without knowing the exact thresholds for launch, it seems the jet stream — or winds in the upper atmosphere — are having a big effect on whether a launch will go ahead,” Auden explained.

“The upper winds tomorrow are likely a little stronger than today. So on that information alone, a launch would seem less likely.”

Well, Gilmour Space's all-Australian orbital rocket just failed its first launch attempt.

It rose from its pad by one or two rocket lengths, slid sideways Astra-style, then fell back.

Which looked like an engine failure to me. Simply not enough thrust, and perhaps unbalanced thrust as well.

Australia's Ghost Bat drone recently succeeded in firing a US made air-to-air missile that shot down a target drone, over Australia's huge Woomera test range (which frankly looks like Mars).

The MQ-28A Ghost Bat successfully tracked and engaged the target.