COAST BROTHERS IN SPACE RACE
TWO Gold Coast brothers are shooting for the stars as they reveal they are one step closer to becoming a major player in the commercial space industry.
Founder and CEO of Gilmour Space, Adam Gilmour, and his brother James have been working for more than two years to develop vehicles capable of sending satellites into space.
The pair are hoping to take a bite out of the industry which mostly operates out of the US.
“There’s a big amount of small satellites that need to be launched over the next five years – literally thousands – so we want to be one of the main providers of launching them into space,” Adam Gilmour said.
The business plans to launch its prototype rocket, called One Vision, in remote Far North Queensland later this month.
“To flight qualify this engine will be a really big step in our engine development,” Mr Gilmour said.
The 9m creation is so large there isn’t a launch platform big enough in Australia, meaning the brothers had to build their own.
While the platform will get them moving for now, the Gilmours are hoping the Queensland Government will support a permanent commercial launching zone in the state’s northeast to give them and other businesses a space to operate within the next 12 months.
Members of the Queensland parliamentary committee visited the Gold Coast yesterday to see the prototype and explore the future of the space industry.