Gilmour Space Technologies plans to fly its Eris small launch vehicle again next year after July’s maiden attempt lifted off but fell back to the pad seconds later, CEO and co‑founder Adam Gilmour told attendees at the International Astronautical Congress on October 3.

“Fourteen seconds of flight and 23 seconds of engine burn gave us a treasure trove of data,” Gilmour said. “For a first article, getting clean liftoff was a meaningful step.”

The Queensland launch on July 30 appeared to suffer a thrust shortfall from at least one of Eris’s four hybrid engines, which use hydrogen peroxide and solid fuel. Gilmour said the team is still narrowing the root cause. “What tripped us up is a condition we hadn’t replicated closely enough in test,” he noted.

Beyond the anomaly, Gilmour pointed to an 18‑month gap between arrival at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport and launch, driven by licensing and permitting. “Rockets aren’t designed to sit at a salty coastal site for a year and a half,” he said. “We underestimated the resources needed for approvals—airspace, maritime, environmental—24 separate permits just in Queensland.”

He added that the drawn‑out timeline also constrained ground testing. “Had we known it would be 18 months, we’d have expanded our test matrix,” Gilmour said. “The silver lining is we now know exactly where to focus.”

Gilmour expects a faster path to the pad next time. “We met with the Australian Space Agency a few weeks ago—they’re aligned on streamlining the process,” he said. “I’m confident we can launch when we need to.”

The company also emphasized its financial footing and outlook. “We’re well capitalized and targeting a return to flight next year,” Gilmour said. “I’m as optimistic as ever about Australia’s launch industry.”