July 2 (UPI) — The Australian aerospace firm Gilmour Space has again delayed the launch of its Eris 1 rocket, the country’s first orbital rocket.
Gilmour Space said Wednesday that it was standing down from a planned launch of what would be the first test flight of the rocket.
“We’ve made the tough call to postpone this week’s launch,” the company said in a statement. It said the pause would give them a longer and more flexible launch window, and the team “a chance to rest after an intense few weeks of testing and prep.”
The company said the new launch window would depend on weather conditions and approval from regulators but that the next launch window is likely no earlier than July 16.
On Monday, the company had said that the rocket was on the launch pad but that the winds weren’t favorable for a launch.
Gilmour Space had previously sought to launch the rocket on May 15 but encountered problems during routine shutdown procedures. At the time, the rocket’s payload fairing — a protective cone for the payload at the nose of the rocket — unexpectedly separated from the launch vehicle.
The cause of the incident went unexplained until May 30 when Gilmour Space revealed that the separation was caused by an unexpected power surge traced to electrical feedback during the vehicle’s shutdown sequence.
“No, it wasn’t a cockatoo,” the company said at the time.
The company was founded by brothers Adam and James Gilmour in 2015 and now has more than 200 employees.
