Preparations to transport the first Australian-owned and manufactured orbital rocket from its construction site to launch site are well advanced, with Gilmour Space Technologies founder and CEO Adam Gilmour readying to send his 25-metre Eris rocket up the Queensland coast by road to the Bowen Orbital Spaceport.
The three-stage rocket will use two different rocket systems – a large hybrid rocket engine powering the first and second stages and a 3D-printed liquid rocket engine powering the third stage. Gilmour wants to provide affordable space launch services for small satellite operators needing low Earth orbit access. But getting the rocket to Bowen may prove almost as challenging as getting it into space.
The rocket needs to be driven around 1,200 kilometres from its construction site at the Gold Coast up the Bruce Highway to Bowen. But the less-than-stellar road’s many lumps and bumps could damage the rocket.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on October 23, 2023, Gilmour said his biggest transportation challenge was a Bruce Highway staple – potholes. “With a pothole, the truck goes up and down very quickly and generates a big shock force, sometimes in the hundreds of Gs,” he said. “In a car, you might feel it, but the seat cushions your body, and you can handle it, but rockets are a bit more delicate.”
To properly assess the hazard, Gilmour has already done four test trips using concrete blocks fitted with sensors. “We wanted to make sure we knew what the forces would be for the entire journey, so we’ve used concrete blocks that simulate the rocket’s mass,” he said. “We put a lot of sensors on them to see what the G forces would be. We also had to design a suspension system using foam that goes inside the truck. But because of those tests, we worked out the foam wasn’t good enough, so we had to prototype different foams, but now we’ve found one that we are happy with.”
Regardless of the mode of transportation, Gilmour said transporting a rocket to the launch site was one of the most challenging stages. He can access the Bowen Spaceport by road, rail, air, and sea, but Gilmour said road transportation was the easiest option. The rocket will be split into pieces because of its length, placed onto a three-stage vehicle, and reassembled at a special-purpose building at Bowen.
It has taken Gilmour eleven years to get from the initial startup to the prototype launch stage. “The first launch of any rocket company is very risky. Our aim is to sensor this up – we have more than 400 on the rocket. We want to conduct the full launch sequence, get it off the pad and head into space. The further it goes into space, the more data we get. If it goes all the way into orbit, it will be the first time a new rocket company has ever done that.”
The maiden launch of Eris is scheduled for December.
