Vegemite to be launched into space in the country’s first attempt at an Australian rocket reaching orbit

A jar of vegemite could make it to space with the launch of an Australian built rocket, which could reach orbit in less than a month following final approvals. Gilmour Space Technologies announced the Eris rocket could launch “no earlier” than March 15, which would mark the first Australian-built rocket aiming for orbit. Founded by brothers on the Gold Coast, Gilmour Space has 300 Australian companies in its wider supply chain and 200 employees. Gilmour Space co-founder and chief executive Adam Gilmour said the Eris rocket’s launch would mark the “first attempt of an Australian rocket to reach orbit from Australian soil”. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia recently gave final airspace approvals for the launch. A jar of vegemite is set to be on-board the unmanned rocket, Mr Gilmour told the ABC. “We hope that no jars of vegemite will be hurt in this maiden attempt,” Mr Gilmour said. The news comes after the company received approval in November to launch its 23m rocket from North Queensland for Eris TestFlight 1. The Eris 1 was a small orbital launch vehicle that could carry a 300kg payload to low-Earth orbit. Mr Gilmour said reaching orbit was a “highly complex engineering challenge” and “every successful rocket company has faced setbacks in their early attempts”. “It’s almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time. Whether we make it off the pad, reach max Q, or get all the way to space, what’s important is that every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket’s reliability and performance for future launches,” he said. He said the launch was important to building “sovereign space capability that will be critical for Australia’s future”. “Launching Australian-owned and controlled rockets from home soil means more hi-tech jobs, greater security, economic growth and technological independence,” Mr Gilmour said. He thanked all those involved for their hard work. “Whatever happens next, know that you’ve already made history – we now build rockets in Australia, and this is only the beginning,” he said. However, the launch could be delayed by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Mr Gilmour told the ABC. “We believe the effects on our site will just be high winds – that would cause us to pause or delay our launch,” he said.