INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Gilmour Space has a payload fairing mishap
Gilmour Space, a venture-backed startup based in Australia, said this week it was ready to launch a small rocket from its privately owned
spaceport on a remote stretch of the country's northeastern coastline, Ars reports
Gilmour's three-stage rocket, named Eris, was prepped for a launch as early as Wednesday, but a ground systems issue delayed an attempt
the company said Thursday afternoon, US time.Always more problems to solve..
Gilmour, based in Gold Coast, Australia, was founded in 2012 by two brothers, Adam and James Gilmour, who came to the space industry after
careers in banking and marketing
Today, Gilmour employs more than 200 people, mostly engineers and technicians
The debut launch of Gilmour's Eris rocket is purely a test flight
Gilmour has tested the rocket's engines and rehearsed the countdown last year, loading propellant and getting within 10 seconds of launch
But Gilmour cautioned in a post on LinkedIn early Wednesday that "test launches are complex." And it confirmed that on Thursday
Now the company will need to source a replacement fairing, which will probably take a while.The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger's
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Up!Is an orbital launch from Argentina imminent? We don't
know much about the Argentinian launch company TLON Space, which is developing a (very) small-lift orbital rocket called Aventura 1
According to the company's website, this launch vehicle will be capable of lofting 25 kg to low-Earth orbit
Some sort of flight test took place two years ago, but the video cuts off after a minute, suggesting that the end of the flight was less
than nominal.Maybe, maybe not..
Now, a publication called Urgente24 reports that an orbital launch attempt is underway
It is not clear exactly what this means, and details about what is actually happening at the Malacara Spaceport in Argentina are unclear
I could find no other outlets reporting on an imminent launch attempt
So my guess is that nothing will happen soon, but it is something we'll keep an eye on regardless