Australia’s first homegrown rocket crashes 14 seconds after launch

The Eris rocket was launched near Bowen in Australia. PIC/AFP

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

The rocket Eris, launched by Gilmour Space Technologies, was the first Australian-designed and manufactured orbital launch vehicle to lift off from the country and was designed to carry small satellites to orbit.

It launched on Wednesday morning local time in a test flight from a spaceport near the small town of Bowen in the north of Queensland state.

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