Southern Launch raise signals Australia’s space sector is ready for lift-off.
The South Australian launch and re-entry specialist has closed a $25 million Series A funding round, marking a major vote of confidence in Australia’s fast-growing sovereign space capability.
The investment will help Southern Launch scale its national spaceport infrastructure, grow its workforce and expand services across rocket launches, spacecraft re-entries, hypersonic testing and advanced range operations.
The round was backed by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), alongside investors including Australian national security investment firm Brindabella & Company, former Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore, Coupland Asset Management, and the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation.
For Australia’s space industry, the raise is more than a funding milestone. It is another sign that government-backed investment, private capital and local innovation are converging to build world-class space capabilities onshore.
“This investment from the National Reconstruction Fund supports the company’s ambition to build out its operations and grow its workforce by 150 people. This is an example of the Albanese Labor Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda at work. Strengthening national resilience, unlocking economic opportunity and building capability and high quality, secure jobs in our outer suburbs and our regions.”
~ Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science Tim Ayres
“Southern Launch’s ability to design, develop, and service spaceport infrastructure combined with proprietary launch and returns software represents the sovereign industrial capability needed to test rockets, drones, and other national security technology. The company is also enabling the global economy’s expansion into low-Earth orbit with the return of in-space manufacturing capsules to South Australia.”
~ NRFC CIO Dr Mary Manning
Building national capabilities
Since conducting Australia’s first commercial rocket launch in 2020, Southern Launch has built vertically integrated services across orbital and suborbital launch, hypersonic flight testing, spacecraft re-entry and range services.
Its infrastructure includes the Koonibba Test Range, which is developed in partnership with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation.
Backed by the Australian Space Agency, the company’s capabilities spans across launching rockets, testing aerospace systems and safely returning spacecraft to Earth. That re-entry capability is becoming increasingly valuable as the global space economy expands into low-Earth orbit.
In February 2025, Southern Launch facilitated the world’s first commercial spacecraft re-entry at its Koonibba Test Range. It has since completed further re-entries, with the latest landing back on Earth in May 2026. The company has also supported NASA’s Artemis II mission.
Unlocking new opportunities in low-Earth orbit
Southern Launch’s work is opening the door to emerging space-enabled industries, including in-space manufacturing.
Its re-entry services can support the return of materials manufactured in microgravity, such as next-generation pharmaceuticals. In the unique conditions of space, researchers and companies can develop materials and therapies that may not be possible to produce on Earth.
Southern Launch Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Damp said the raise was a strong endorsement of Australia’s role in the global space economy.
“With the backing of world-class investors and the Australian Federal Government through the NRFC, we are scaling infrastructure and capabilities to position Australia as a global leader in launch and re-entry, while unlocking new economic opportunities in low-Earth orbit and beyond,”
~ Southern Launch Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Damp
The company already has a growing international customer base, including Varda Space Industries and Lux Aeterna from the United States, Australia’s Defence Science Technology Group and AtSpace, South Korea’s Perigee Aerospace and Innospace, Canada’s Reaction Dynamics, and the German Space Agency, DLR.
First Nations partnership at the centre of growth
Southern Launch says its approach is grounded in First Nations economic participation and care for Country.
At the Koonibba Test Range, the company works closely with Koonibba Traditional Owners, including through cultural monitoring of launch and re-entry activities. The Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation is also a shareholder in Southern Launch, reflecting a partnership model that connects space industry growth with regional economic opportunity.
“As Southern Launch makes technological strides, it is also creating regional jobs in South Australia and engaging in a meaningful social and economic partnership with the local First Nations community,” said NRFC CIO Dr Mary Manning.
Investing in homegrown pioneers
According to Dr Mary Manning Southern Launch met a critical need for rocket launch and re-entry services in the Southern Hemisphere, while helping address a global bottleneck in the space industry.
Today's NRFC investment also sits within a broader wave of recent Australian Government-backed support for high-tech and space-related capability.
In April 2026, Canberra-based Liquid Instruments secured $70 million in Series C funding to accelerate commercialisation of its software-defined instrumentation platform, with the NRFC investing $28.45 million to help scale manufacturing in Australia.
In March 2026, the NRFC also invested $50 million in Advanced Navigation as part of a $158 million Series C round. The company develops autonomous navigation systems designed to operate when GPS signals are unreliable or unavailable – from mines and rough seas to space missions and lunar environments.
Together, these investments point to a broader national shift. Australia is not only participating in the space economy – it is building the infrastructure, technology and industrial capability to help shape its future.
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Main image caption: Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp during the launch countdown for NASA's Artemis II lunar mission.
Credit for all images in this article: Southern Launch