Gilmour Space Fires Its Upgraded Engine as Australia Lines Up a Second Shot at Orbit

Australia's push to build its own path to orbit has taken another step forward. Gilmour Space, the Queensland company behind the country's first home built orbital rocket, has completed a major engine test as it prepares for a second attempt to reach space.

A full duration engine test

The centrepiece of the latest progress is a mission duration hotfire of the company's upgraded Sirius engine. The test saw the 110 kilonewton hybrid engine burn for 116 seconds, long enough to represent the demands of a real flight rather than a brief static ignition.

The firing was not just about raw endurance. Engineers put the engine through a throttle down sequence and introduced new ablative materials, alongside a series of changes and fixes drawn directly from the lessons of the company's first flight attempt.

The failed debut that started it all

That first flight is the reason this test matters so much. In 2025, Gilmour launched its Eris rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport on the coast of Queensland, in what was billed as Australia's first attempt to send a locally built rocket into orbit.

The moment did not last. The rocket fell back toward Earth just 14 seconds after liftoff, ending the debut far short of space and underlining how unforgiving the early stages of rocket development can be, even for a well prepared and determined team.

Rather than treat the failure as a simple setback, the company framed it as data. Every second of that short flight produced information that engineers have since fed back into the design, the engine and the ground systems ahead of the next attempt.

Not going to give up

Gilmour has been clear about its intentions. The company has said it is not going to give up, and it is targeting a second orbital launch attempt in 2026 as it works to become the first to place an Australian built rocket into orbit.

That confidence rests on more than ambition. With its launch infrastructure already in place at Bowen and a working relationship with regulators established, the company is plotting a return to flight rather than starting over again from scratch.

The road to a bigger rocket

The current Eris vehicle is only the beginning of a broader roadmap. Gilmour has outlined larger versions to follow, including an Eris Block Two capable of carrying heavier payloads and an even more powerful Eris Heavy further down the line.

That progression matters for Australia's ambitions. A reliable small rocket that can grow into a heavier one would give the country a domestic route to orbit, reducing its dependence on launching satellites from overseas providers and foreign spaceports.

Why a home grown rocket matters

Australia has long had a strong presence in space science, ground stations and satellite operations, but launching its own rockets has remained an elusive goal. A successful Eris flight would help close that longstanding gap in the national space effort.

For a country with vast, sparsely populated coastlines, domestic launch also carries a practical appeal. Local spaceports can offer flexible access to orbit for small satellites, a market that has grown rapidly as commercial constellations expand worldwide.

The next test flight

For now, attention turns to what Gilmour calls TestFlight2, the second orbital attempt that the recent engine milestone is designed to support. If it succeeds, it would mark a genuine turning point, transforming a dramatic early failure into the foundation of an Australian launch industry.