Australian rocket startup Gilmour pinpoints cause of first rocket launch failure
Click for video, cued to just before launch. The red
dot marks the launchpad location.
The Australian rocket startup Gilmour Space on April 24, 2026 released the results of its investigation into the launch failure seconds after liftoff of its Eris rocket in July 2025.
Our investigation found that approximately nine seconds after ignition, one of the four first-stage hybrid rocket motors experienced a loss of thrust. A second motor exhibited similar behaviour at around 17 seconds, reducing vehicle performance and bringing the mission to an early end.
Analysis identified two independent failure modes originating from the oxidiser pump subsystem. Electrical and thermal faults were observed in the electric pump motors and associated inverters, including components sourced from an external supplier. We now have a clearer understanding of the underlying causes.
The company hopes to try again later this year, but to do so it will need license approval from Australia’s bureaucracy, and such approvals have not been quick.
Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for video, cued to just before launch. The red
dot marks the launchpad location.
The Australian rocket startup Gilmour Space on April 24, 2026 released the results of its investigation into the launch failure seconds after liftoff of its Eris rocket in July 2025.
Our investigation found that approximately nine seconds after ignition, one of the four first-stage hybrid rocket motors experienced a loss of thrust. A second motor exhibited similar behaviour at around 17 seconds, reducing vehicle performance and bringing the mission to an early end.
Analysis identified two independent failure modes originating from the oxidiser pump subsystem. Electrical and thermal faults were observed in the electric pump motors and associated inverters, including components sourced from an external supplier. We now have a clearer understanding of the underlying causes.
The company hopes to try again later this year, but to do so it will need license approval from Australia’s bureaucracy, and such approvals have not been quick.
Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News