OUR SPACE ODYSSEY
This is rocket science. Pimpama firm wins funds to make 2018...
NEARLY $20 million has been teleported to Gold Coast rocket scientists who plan to launch spacecraft very soon.
Pimpama-based start-up Gilmour Space Technologies (GST) will use the Federal grant to further develop its low-cost rockets and launch vehicles to send small to medium-sized satellites into lowearth orbit.
A GOLD Coast space company has secured a $19-million funding boost to help it develop cheaper, faster rockets.
Pimpama-based start-up Gilmour Space Technologies (GST) will use the grant to further develop its low-cost rockets and launch vehicles to send small to medium-sized satellites into low-earth orbit.
Founded by brothers James and Adam Gilmour in 2012, the company is at the frontier of the Australian space industry thanks to its focus on satellites and rockets for commercial and national benefit.
“We will use those funds to further develop, build and test our orbital vehicle and to start commercial operations from 2020,” James Gilmour said.
Minister for Technology Karen Andrews said Gilmour Space’s pioneering projects would help turn Australia’s world-class research into new business opportunities and local jobs.
“This is great news for the Gold Coast, helping to create more local jobs and boosting our economy,” she said.
“Australia is ready to take bold new steps to grow its space sector.”
CEO Adam Gilmour said the company would conduct a sub-orbital test flight in November, with plans for its first orbital test to follow in 2020.
“We see small satellite launches as a multi-billion dollar opportunity and this funding will help us become a significant player in the global small launch market,” he said.
James Gilmour said the company was exploring several potential launch sites, all in Queensland.
“For the orbital flights, Far North Queensland would be preferred but anywhere on the coast of Queensland works well,” he said.
“In fact, we are in discussions with a few councils to explore this.”
The projects mean Gilmour’s current staff of 28 will almost double during the next 12 months.
“Most of our employees are oon the Gold Coast and we’re looking to grow our team there to around 40 to 45 in the next 12 months,” James Gilmour said.
Gilmour’s success has led to global attention.
In February, the Gilmours signed a deal with NASA to work on a rover that will harvest water on Mars.
The company’s innovative hybrid propulsion technology is cleaner and more efficient than traditional rockets.
A SMALL start-up at Pimpama, in what used to be cane land and gum forest, has become the focus today of Australia’s determination to be part of the global space industry.
A $19 million funding boost for Gilmour Space Technologies is to be used by the company to continue developing low-cost rockets to carry small to medium-sized satellites into low-earth orbit.
This is the future – and it is exciting that the Gold Coast is home to an innovative organisation that has convinced the CSIRO and its funding arm, as well as Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews, of its worth.
Locals will benefit, with jobs to be created and the economy to be given a boost as a result.
The space race is on but in this instance, it is not so much a matter of heading to the moon or Mars but in helping meet a demand for up to 8000 small satellites to go into orbit in the next five years to provide the means, as CEO Adam Gilmour told the Bulletin, for super-fast internet speeds that would leave landbased technology in the shade.
Given the rate of technological development right now, we can only dream of the results from the amazing research and development that will be made possible through such rocket projects in the coming months and handful of years.
Australia was once at the cutting edge of space technology, with rockets being regularly launched from Woomera – including the Cold War-era experimental Blue Streak missiles – and radio telescopes used in the Apollo lunar landings.
A commitment by Canberra to make a serious return to the space industry through encouraging innovation and investment is as much about building an industry as it is about national pride.
The Gold Coast is well placed, with organisations such as Gilmour and with our universities and health and knowledge precinct, to be part of an exciting future.