Eris-1, the first rocket fully built by an Australian company, crashed back to Earth 14 seconds after taking off from a spaceport in Queensland. It was the country's first orbital launch attempt since 1971.

The last attempt to launch a satellite from Australian soil was in 1971, when the British Black Arrow rocket lifted off from a military range in South Australia and placed a UK-built satellite into orbit. Gilmour is leading the charge to bring orbital launches back to Australia, this time with a domestic rocket.

The first Australian-made rocket to attempt to reach orbit from the country's soil has crashed after 14 seconds of flight.