Adelaide-based spaceport operator Southern Launch has raised $25 million in a funding round led by national security investor Brindabella & Company, with the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) committing $10 million in direct equity to help scale Australia's sovereign launch infrastructure.
The capital will fund expansion of Southern Launch's two facilities - the Koonibba Test Range on the far west coast of South Australia and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex near Port Lincoln - as the company works to meet growing demand from domestic and international launch customers.
Among them is US-based Varda Space Industries, which manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity and uses Southern Launch's Koonibba facility to land its reentry capsules.
The two companies have separately agreed to 20 reentries at Koonibba through 2028, targeting a near-monthly cadence.
The NRFC's $10 million commitment marks the federal body's 29th investment, bringing its total capital deployed to $1.64 billion.
It is also the NRFC's fourth bet on the space sector, following a $75 million investment in Queensland-based rocket manufacturer Gilmour Space Technologies, a $25 million commitment to South Australian Internet of Things satellite company Myriota, and $10 million into hypersonic vehicle developer Hypersonix.
"This raise is a major milestone for Southern Launch and a strong vote of confidence in Australia's sovereign space capability," says Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp.
"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."
Damp says NRFC’s investment affirms the critical role Southern Launch is playing in enabling the global space economy.
"With this support, we are scaling infrastructure and capabilities to position Australia as a global leader in launch and re-entry and unlocking new economic opportunities in low-Earth orbit and beyond,” he says.
Since conducting Australia's first commercial rocket launch in 2020, Southern Launch has built proven infrastructure and vertically integrated processes for orbital and suborbital launch, hypersonic flight, re-entries from space, and range services for advanced system testing.
In February last year, Southern Launch facilitated the world's first commercial spacecraft re-entry at the Koonibba Test Range and has completed a further three re-entries, the latest landing back on Earth in May 2026. The company also supported NASA's Artemis II lunar mission earlier this year.
NRFC says its investment in Southern Launch will help to establish a future space manufacturing hub and supply chain businesses in South Australia, creating new jobs and opportunities within the emerging space industry while fortifying a critical national supply chain, and supporting economic activity in the region.
“Southern Launch helped to track the Artemis II lunar mission earlier this year and we are proud to be investing in homegrown pioneers contributing to projects making global history,” says Dr Mary Manning, the CIO of NRFC.
“Southern Launch meets a critical need for rocket launch and re-entry services in the Southern Hemisphere and NRFC investment addresses a global bottleneck in the space industry by securing this sovereign capability for Australia.
“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.”
The latest round also attracted backing from former Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore and former Macquarie chief financial officer Alex Harvey, alongside London-based Coupland Asset Management.
Brindabella & Company CEO Anthony Wilson describes Southern Launch as a "globally unique business" that supports orbital and sub-orbital launch, range testing services for terrestrial and maritime uncrewed aircraft systems and hypersonic testing, in addition to the burgeoning microgravity drug discovery industry.
"Southern Launch is well positioned to help Australia become a global centre in the rapidly growing trillion-dollar space economy” says Wilson.
Southern Launch, founded in 2017, currently has a workforce of 35 which the company plans to grow considerably as its scales over the next five years.
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