Sitting on a tarmac up in Bowen, Queensland is Australia’s first fully designed and manufactured rocket, an incredible feat of domestic innovation, engineering and logistics eight years in the making by the VC-backed advanced manufacturer, Gilmour Space Technologies.
The Eris rocket has been grounded for months while waiting for a launch permit from the Australian Space Agency (established 2018), which means the company will miss its latest launch target of September. The approval process started more than two years ago.
The reason for the regulatory delay – often diplomatically explained by Gilmour Space Technologies co-founder and chief executive Adam Gilmour – is that the Australian Space Agency has never had to approve a launch of a rocket on Australian soil before.
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A line from today’s NYTimes (article entitled “Kamala Harris Begins to Sketch a New Economic Vision”) resonated for me in thinking about your piece today @Realpolitic, to whit: “Markets are a tool, not an end unto themselves. And our government’s job is to set national aims and then shape markets to serve them.” This feels in line with Mariana Mazzucato’s ideas from Mission Based Economy too. Definitely a narrative challenge for the average person in the street, feels like our pollies need a version of Harris’ “Build and Balance”, perhaps “Let’s Build for a Fair Go” 🙂