The investment is the maximum available under the $392 million Industry Growth Program and comes despite founder Adam Gilmour strongly criticising the Australian Space Agency last year.
Gilmour is developing a three-stage orbital vehicle, Eris, which is almost entirely Australian-designed and manufactured. It’s planning another attempt at a maiden blast-off later this month after the previous three tries were scrubbed.
The Industry Growth Program, unveiled in 2023, aims to help small businesses commercialise and grow their companies. Its unveiling came in response to a report that suggested businesses in Australia face barriers to scaling up.
Only one other firm has received the maximum grant of $5 million, with grants starting at $50,000 to $250,000 to support early-stage projects.
Gilmour previously received $52 million from the federal government to lead a space manufacturing network in Australia, but has also previously raised millions itself, including $55 million in a Series D funding round last year.
However, founder Adam Gilmour last year strongly criticised the Australian Space Agency, a division of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, for his firm’s failure to blast off Eris in 2024.
He quipped the agency was asking questions “you wouldn’t believe” to obtain the necessary permits and even suggested officials were concerned Eris could hit a passing ship.
“Like, what if a cruise ship comes out of Hawaii and goes in the path of the rocket as it’s going up [from the North Queensland coast]? And how are we not going to hit the International Space Station?” he said.
He continued that his engineers were spending time answering questions and writing papers instead of getting to work.
“Regulation definitely kills innovation. The government is extremely risk-averse, even in the power market. People are talking about clean energy, but it takes two years to get a wind turbine approved or 18 months to get a solar farm approved.
“It’s taken us almost two years to get our first rocket launch approved. That is crazy.”
After subsequently clearing all the necessary hurdles late last year, an initial attempt at blast-off was scrubbed due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred before three further launch window cancellations. The last came earlier this month and was blamed on upper wind forecasts, with a new date pencilled in for 27 July.
A successful launch, though, would mark one of the most significant moments in the local sector’s history and the first attempt at an orbital blast-off in 50 years from Australian soil.
Gilmour has repeatedly said the initial blast-off is likely to end in failure and admitted that a flight time of 20 or 30 seconds would be “fantastic”.
Despite its own launch trouble, the company recently blasted off its first satellite bus, ElaraSat, on SpaceX’s Transporter 14 rideshare mission.
While engineers were initially warned that it could take up to four days to establish contact with ElaraSat, they eventually received the all-clear within eight hours.
“The fact that we can put it up in a space successfully and test it will be a big milestone for the company,” Gilmour said.
The 100-kilogram satellite platform is carrying a hyperspectral imager from CSIRO that can monitor algae in Queensland’s rivers and lakes.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.