“The journey to reach space has always been one of humankind's greatest ambitions that unites us around the world. Today's launch of the first orbital rocket from Australian soil marks an outstanding achievement for the Australian space industry. Australia has left the ground and joined the long list of dreamers who took the first steps towards the development of a sovereign commercial launch capability.
 
In true Aussie spirit, the rocket that launched today was carrying a jar of Vegemite. It did not reach orbit, but that was not the objective of today's flight test. As we know from watching the journey of commercial space companies around the world in recent years, the success of a test flight is not measured in orbit, but in the lessons learned on the ground.
 
Today, Australia got off the launch pad. Tomorrow, we reach the stars! This is such an exciting time for Australian space exploration. As a kid I always loved space, and I never thought I would see Australian companies launch rockets - and yet here we are today. Like so many people around the country who now have the opportunity to work in space, I'm thrilled to be part of the Australian space narrative at the University of Melbourne, operating Australia's first x-ray space telescope called SpIRIT.
 
I can't wait to see what's next, and how this will inspire the next generation of Australian space explorers."

"It's amazing to see the Eris rocket lift off and get off the ground earlier today - it's a fantastic achievement, and I'm sure the team behind the launch will be thrilled to see their rocket get off the launch pad and get airborne.

It's actually about the best 'first launch' I've ever seen of a rocket - this is a key part of how new rockets and space flight technology is developed, and teams learn a lot more from what goes wrong than what goes right! The best example of that is the very explosive history of rocket tests from the US and USSR at the dawn of the Space Age, and more recently the way SpaceX has learned through the repeated 'Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly' of their test rockets.

This is the first step towards an Australian-based rocket launch capacity - and it's fantastic to see it being developed from here in southeast Queensland. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next test launch achieves!"

"Failed launches such as Gilmour's are an essential part of the process of gaining access to space. They will learn a lot from today and the next launch will be so much more likely to succeed on the basis of those learnings.

Companies like SpaceX do not hide their launch failures: they make a virtue of them: "blooper reels" if you like. And SpaceX is launching more into space than anybody. Don't believe any negativity you see around this launch - it will be due to Australia not yet having a launch capability. Only having a space agency since 2018, we're not used to it.

When Gilmour finally does get a rocket to space it will be even more significant here - people are much more excited about rockets rather than satellites because it's the bit they can see - the bit connecting Earth to space. We also need a better-informed federal government approach. Gutting the space agency means companies like Gilmour have to do so much more. The space ecosystem in general has to work a lot harder to overcome a government hostile to the space industry."