The Whitsundays’ homegrown space manufacturer are always looking to the stars for their next small step for Australia.
Rocket and satellite company, Gilmour Space, last week announced plans to launch Australia's first ‘caravan' into low orbit in late 2024 from their Bowen launch-site at Abbot Point State Development Area.
The site in Bowen - which is still under construction and counting down towards its first expected launch in 2023 - will be host to the “innovative rideshare mission”.
The Australian launch services company said that, unlike most rocket launches which host a primary customer payload, a rideshare launch comprises of many customer payloads – a caravan like cubesats, microsats or other small spacecrafts.
Adam Gilmour, CEO and co-founder of Gilmour Space said the vessel will be named Caravan-1 and will have a lift capacity of 1000 kilograms.
“This mission will provide affordable access to new space customers looking to launch into a mid-inclination orbit at the end of 2024,” Mr Gilmour said
“The next few years are going to be a very exciting time for the global space industry, and missions like this will allow us to support the growth of new satellite and in-orbit technologies that could benefit humanity on Earth, in space, and beyond.”
The venture-capital-backed company is developing Australian rockets that will deliver a variety of spacecraft into low-earth orbit (LEO); and is expecting to launch the first of what it has coined Eris vehicles from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport early next year.
The Spaceport recently saw Whitsunday Regional Councillors tour its progress, with construction on the orbital launch facility – one of Australia’s first - well underway with contractors working on the construction shed and launch pad.
When the facility becomes operational, rockets carrying small satellites will be the most common item launched into low-Earth orbit.
Gilmour Space predicts that up to 92 rocket launches annually could be conducted from the Spaceport by 2032.
In the United States, rocket launches at Cape Canaveral regularly see attendances of over 150,000 spectators – a figure which has been suggested to be an “absolute boon” for Bowen tourism if numbers match even a tenth percent of that figure.
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