8. Gilmour Space & the evolving launch industry

Gilmour Space, a Gold Coast rocket company, just received a massive $61M in funding. Today we’ll look at the evolving global launch industry, how Gilmour Space fits in, and what they’ll be doing with the funding. We've also got a bunch of exciting Aussie space news to round up.

Global launch industry evolution:

Launch service providersCountries who have launched to orbitSpaceX rideshare programList of small satellite launchersSpace launch market competition, including table of estimated payload costs

Gilmour Space Technologies:

Company websiteThree stage Eris rocketProposed Abbot Point launch siteEngine test videos:30 second, 90 kN main engine test, February 2021110 second upper stage engine test, July 2020Funding historyDefence Industrial Capability Plan 2018 covers the rationale for more Australian defence sovereign capabilities

Australian space industry news:

28 June - Boeing adds Leidos Australia, Viasat and Idigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium (IDIC) to its bid for $3B Australian defence satellite contract, JP9102.30 June - Gilmour Space raised $61M, the largest investment ever in an Australian space company.1 July - SpaceX’s Transporter-2 mission launched, including Centauri 4 satellite for Fleet.1 July - Spiral Blue launched their first hardware aboard Virgin Orbit’s “Tubular Bells, Part One” flight.1 July - Australian Space Agency to pursue a Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) between the US and Australia, and will postpone cost recovery on launch activities until July 2022.6 July - Space companies land four grants worth $13.8M under the Federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

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