Space startup enters hypersonic race

Australia’s largest space startup will offer a new test flight service for developers of hypersonic weapons and reusable spacecraft amid a global race to master the capabilities.

An artist's impression of Gilmour Space's hypersonic test flight vehicle. Picture: Supplied

Australia’s largest space startup will offer a new test flight service for developers of hypersonic weapons and reusable spacecraft amid a global race to master the capabilities.

The venture-capital funded Queensland company Gilmour Space, which is awaiting final approval for its first rocket launch, says it will leverage technologies developed for its orbital space vehicle to deliver the hypersonic test service from 2025.

The move comes as Australia, the US and Britain look to accelerate development of hypersonic missiles under the AUKUS partnership after lagging behind China and Russia in developing the technology.

“Australia has a big comparative advantage over many of our partners, with wide open spaces for testing,” Gilmour Space director of launch vehicles David Doyle said. “We’ve witnessed a surge in the research and development of hypersonic vehicles, mat­erials, and other related tech­nologies in recent years, especially since AUKUS.

“As many of these ideas pro­gress from concept to prototyping and testing, we’re also seeing a growing bottleneck in high-speed flight test capabilities, beyond what ground-based shock tunnel testing and simulations can offer.”

Gilmour Space is awaiting approval for its first rocket launch. Picture: Supplied

Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Malcolm Davis said US, Japanese and European companies were among the service’s likely customers.

He said Australia’s geography offered an almost unmatched opportunity for space and weapons companies to test hypersonic vehicles without posing a risk to people and infrastructure. “We are the only country other than China that could really do this because of the long distances that can be travelled above Mach 5, at very high altitude, over instrumented ranges,” Dr Davis said.

As well as hypersonic missiles, the service could be used to develop futuristic space planes to fly at hypersonic speeds, release payloads into space, and land under their own power, he said.