Failed debut: the top fell off the first Australian orbital-class rocket

The launch of the first Australian orbital-class rocket Eris from Gilmour Space has been postponed after the rocket's nose cone unexpectedly fell off even before refueling. It was supposed to deploy already in flight, but the incident occurred a few hours before the planned launch. The company is investigating the cause of the breakdown. This is reported by UNN with reference to Arstechnica.

Details

The company reported the technical malfunction on Thursday via social media.

During final launch preparations last night, an electrical fault tripped and the system that opens the rocket's nose cone (payload fairing) activated.

It was also clarified that the incident happened before the rocket was refueled, and "most importantly, no one was injured, and preliminary checks show no damage to the rocket or the launch pad."

As noted, the launch was to take place from a private spaceport in Queensland. The Eris rocket is approximately 25 meters high and is designed to deliver a payload of up to 305 kg to low Earth orbit. At the time of the incident, the rocket was without cargo, as it was to be its first test launch.

As a Gilmour Space representative told Ars Technica in a comment, the fairing opened due to an "unexpected electrical problem that activated the separation system."

Fairings usually have the shape of a shell that closes the cargo on the nose of the rocket, protecting it from atmospheric influences during takeoff. In flight, as the rocket passes through the dense layers of the atmosphere, the fairing is discarded, releasing the payload.

Similar problems with fairings in the past have repeatedly caused unsuccessful launches — in particular, due to the fact that they did not separate in flight or separated only partially, which prevented the rocket from reaching orbit.

Gilmour said they are postponing the launch to "fully understand what happened and make the necessary updates."

Not the first challenge for Gilmour

It was founded by brothers Adam and James Gilmour in 2012. During this time, it has attracted about 90 million dollars of investments from private and public sources for the development of the Eris rocket.

This launch was to be historic — the first flight of a completely Australian rocket into orbit. Rockets were last launched from Australia more than 50 years ago, but these were missions involving the United States and Great Britain.

The company's headquarters are located in Gold Coast, approximately 600 miles south of the launch site near the city of Bowen. In its statement, Gilmour reported that it has a spare fairing at the factory in Gold Coast, which will be delivered to the launch pad after the investigation is completed.

Although we are disappointed by the delay, our team is already working on a solution, and we expect to be back on the site soon

It is currently unknown how much time it will take to investigate, fix the problem, and prepare the rocket for a new launch.

This incident has become another challenge after more than a year of delays, which Gilmour explained by bureaucratic difficulties in obtaining permits from the Australian government.

Like many rocket companies before, Gilmour set modest expectations for Eris' first test flight. Although the rocket has everything it needs to reach low Earth orbit, officials said they expect only 10 to 20 seconds of stable flight during the first launch, enough to collect data on the rocket's performance and its unconventional hybrid propulsion system.

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