Southern Launch has closed $25 million funding round lead by an Australian national security investment firm Brindabella and Company and the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC).
Southern Launch has closed a $25 million Series A to scale its spaceport infrastructure, grow its workforce and accelerate launch, re-entry, and range services.
The raise has included a $10 million investment from the NRFC, Australia’s sovereign investor in manufacturing capability. Other investors include former Macquarie Group CEO and CFO Nicholas Moore and Alex Harvey, and Coupland Asset Management.
“This raise is a major milestone for Southern Launch and a strong vote of confidence in Australia’s sovereign space capability. 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 CEO, Lloyd Damp, said.
Since conducting Australia’s first commercial rocket launch in 2020, Southern Launch has built 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 2025, Southern Launch facilitated, the company claims, 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.
“Southern Launch is a globally unique business supporting orbital & sub-orbital launch, range testing services for terrestrial & maritime UAS & C-UAS, hypersonic testing, in addition to the burgeoning microgravity drug discovery industry,” Brindabella & Company CEO, Anthony Wilson, stated.
“Southern Launch is well positioned to help Australia become a global centre in the rapidly growing trillion-dollar space economy.”
Southern Launch’s capabilities span launching rockets, testing aerospace technologies and bringing spacecraft safely back to Earth. This includes returning materials manufactured in space, such as next-generation pharmaceuticals developed in microgravity, where the unique conditions of space allow for breakthroughs not possible on Earth.
“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,” NRFC CEO, David Gall, highlighted.
Current spaceports include the Koonibba Test Range, developed in partnership with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, both located in South Australia.