For most of the past half century, getting things into space has been the preserve of superpowers and a handful of well-funded aerospace giants.
Rockets were expensive, slow to build, politically tangled and largely closed to smaller nations and commercial users.
That model has been cracking for a decade, led by companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab that proved space could be industrialised, iterated and scaled like software rather than treated like a once-in-a-generation science project.
At the same time, demand has quietly exploded. Satellites now underpin everything from climate monitoring and agriculture to broadband, logistics, defence and national security.
Small satellites in low-Earth orbit are becoming the backbone of modern digital infrastructure, but access to launch remains constrained, expensive and geopolitically sensitive.
Sovereign launch capability is no longer a vanity project for governments – it’s strategic plumbing.
That’s the gap Gilmour Space is trying to fill.
An Australian rocket finally leaves the pad
Founded by brothers Adam and James Gilmour on the Gold Coast, the company has spent the past decade building Australia’s first locally designed orbital rocket and a satellite manufacturing business alongside it.
In July, it took a visible leap into the public eye when its 23-metre, 30-tonne Eris rocket lifted off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland and flew for around 14 seconds before terminating early.
In space terms, that counts as real progress.
“Space is hard,” Adam Gilmour told the AFR after the launch.
“SpaceX, Rocket Lab and others needed multiple test flights to reach orbit. We’ve learned a tremendous amount that will go directly into improving our next vehicle, which is already in production.”
He reinforced the significance of simply getting airborne.
“Getting off the pad and into flight is a huge step forward for any new rocket program. This was the first real test of our rocket systems, our propulsion technology, and our spaceport – and it proved that much of what we’ve built works.”
And there was a broader ambition behind it.
“Only six nations currently launch to orbit regularly – and just a handful are developing sovereign capability to join them,” he said. “We’ve now taken a big step toward joining that group.”
Capital flows in as confidence builds
Investors agreed. Shortly after the launch, Gilmour Space closed a $217 million Series E funding round that tipped the company into unicorn territory with a valuation above $1 billion.
The raise was co-led by the National Reconstruction Fund and Hostplus, each committing $75 million, with the Future Fund, Funds SA and Brighter Super joining as new investors alongside existing backers like Blackbird, Main Sequence, HESTA, QIC and NGS Super.
The capital gives the company room to iterate.
“When we raised $50 million or $60 million rounds our investors were nervous because it wasn’t enough to keep going. So this raise is enough for us to have a good crack,” Gilmour said.
“If we take four attempts to get to orbit, we’re OK. If we take five attempts to orbit, we’re OK.”
The technology stack behind Eris
Under the hood, Eris is built very differently from traditional rockets. Much of the system – propulsion, structures, avionics, software and even the spaceport – has been developed in-house.
The rocket uses Gilmour’s proprietary hybrid propulsion system, tested to 110 kilonewtons of thrust, combining solid fuel with liquid oxidiser for safety and manufacturability advantages.
The vehicle is designed for production rather than bespoke engineering, targeting payloads of up to around 300 kilograms into low-Earth orbit, an increasingly crowded commercial segment.
Satellites as the lower-risk growth engine
Parallel to launch, Gilmour is also building a satellite business to smooth risk and revenue.
In 2025, its 100-kilogram ElaraSat MMS-1 satellite successfully reached orbit aboard a SpaceX rideshare mission and completed commissioning, validating communications and platform systems.
“This is a proud moment for our team and partners,” said Mark Grimminck, Head of Satellites at Gilmour Space.
“ElaraSat MMS-1 is designed for multiple missions – and this first flight shows how Australia can build expertise in sovereign satellite technology while paving the way for future missions.”
That end-to-end capability – building satellites and launching them from Australian soil – is exactly what attracted institutional capital and government support.
“This capital injection will help position Gilmour Space for its next phase of growth, enabling it to scale operations and advance technology development, creating potential for strong, risk-adjusted returns for our members,” Hostplus chief investment officer Sam Sicilia said.
The National Reconstruction Fund took a similarly strategic view.
“There’s always risk involved in these things, but we think that they will be able to continue to progress and achieve success over time,” said chief executive David Gall.
“By building sovereign space capability that underpins our everyday life – from Earth observation and communications to national security – Gilmour’s efforts will secure Australia’s access to essential space services.”
The financial reality of building rockets
Financially, this is still a heavy-investment story.
For the year to June, the company recorded a $22.4 million net loss, funded largely by government grants and R&D tax incentives.
Revenue dipped as contract timing shifted.
CFO Ashley Hasforth put it bluntly: “R&D funding is pivotal to building and nurturing tech in Australia – not just for us, but across the industry as a whole – until you’re in a position to actually win commercial contracts.”
That commercial inflection is what the next 12 to 24 months are about. Engineers are already applying data from the first launch to the next vehicle.
“We’re just trying to make sure our second attempt goes a lot better than the first attempt,” Gilmour said, with plans to return to the pad within months.
What success would mean for investors
For investors, Gilmour Space sits at an unusual intersection: deep technology risk, sovereign strategic importance, and a global market that is structurally growing rather than cyclical.
Success would place Australia on the map as a launch nation, unlock defence and commercial contracts, and create a domestic space manufacturing ecosystem. Failure would be expensive and very visible.
But in a world where access to orbit is becoming as economically critical as ports and data centres, the upside is asymmetrical.
If Gilmour can turn test flights into reliable cadence, it won’t just be launching satellites.
It will be launching an entirely new Australian industry into orbit.
This article is not financial advice. Always do your own research or speak with a licensed adviser before making investment decisions.
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