By Andrew Curran
HyImpulse Technologies has delivered its SR75 rocket to Southern Launch’s Koonibba test range near Ceduna, South Australia, after a two-month journey from Germany. On April 22, 2024, HyImpulse confirmed the safe delivery via its social media platforms.
“Our rocket has safely arrived and is ready for the next big step,” the social media post reads. Just days prior, Southern Launch dispatched its first wave of employees to the test range to work on the launch. This followed Southern Launch transporting its mid-range launch rail to the test range in a truck convoy from Adelaide.
Continuing a spate of activity for Southern Launch, a launch and range service provider with an orbital launch complex at Whalers Bay and the suborbital testing facility at Koonibba, the company has also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Spaceworks Enterprizes to handle future space returns and re-entries.
The MOU, signed at the Space Symposium in Colorado, establishes a working relationship between SpaceWorks and Southern Launch to look at the return of the SpaceWorks re-entry vehicles to Koonibba, opening up reasonably priced on-demand cargo return services from space.
“We have the land, the expertise and a regulatory framework that enables us to accept the returns of this ground-breaking technology for our customer,” said Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp. “Southern Launch provides an end-to-end solution for companies wanting to return their technology from orbit. We handle everything from regulatory approval to logistics, which means our customers can focus on ensuring their technology returns to Earth safely.”
The end-to-end solution, which includes dealing with local authorities and navigating Australian red tape, had a big appeal for HyImpulse after construction delays at the Saxa Vord Spaceport in the UK made that initial launch site unviable. “Having Southern Launch manage the launch campaign for us means we can focus on the vehicle and use our expertise in the best way possible,” said HyImpulse CTO Ulrich Fischer last year when announcing the switch.
HyImpusle’s SR75 hybrid rocket will use a paraffin wax and liquid oxygen fuel blend to lift commercial payloads into low Earth orbit. The first launch, which is still awaiting clearance from the Australian Space Agency, is a sounding mission that will enable the company to analyse the rocket’s performance once in the air and also its lift-off and return.
After the first launch at Koonibba, HyImpulse is considering deploying its still-under-development SL1 Orbital Launcher from the Whalers Bay complex. The SL1 launcher will use ten SR75 rocket motors to lift payloads of up to 600kg into low Earth orbit.
Southern Launch is in something of a race against Queensland-based Gilmour Space, which is also awaiting clearance from the Australian Space Agency to launch its Eris rocket from its Bowen Spaceport. Gilmour was shooting for a May 4 launch date but, on April 23, said it had dropped the date because it was still awaiting approval and had to sit out a 30-day notification period. While Southern Space is lining up to launch a German-manufactured rocket, Gimour intends to make history by launching an Australian-manufactured rocket from Australian soil.
