Southern Launch Closes $25 Million Funding Round Backed By Australian Government’s National Reconstruction Fund

Australian aerospace company Southern Launch has closed a $25 million Series A funding round to scale its spaceport infrastructure, expand its workforce and accelerate its launch, re-entry and range services.

The raise was led by national security-focused investment firm Brindabella and Company and includes a $10 million investment from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), the Australian government’s sovereign investor in manufacturing capability. Other investors in the round include former Macquarie Group CEO and CFO Nicholas Moore and Alex Harvey, along with Coupland Asset Management.

Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp described the raise as a major milestone for the company.

“This raise is a strong vote of confidence in Australia’s sovereign space capability,” Damp told journalists. “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.”

Government backing

The NRFC’s $10 million direct equity investment forms part of the broader $25 million raise and is subject to various customary conditions, including receipt of shareholder approvals and a notification waiver from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The NRFC has $15 billion to invest through direct loans, equity investments and loan guarantees across seven priority areas including defence capability, renewables and low emissions technologies and enabling capabilities.

NRFC CEO David Gall explained that the investment addresses a structural gap in the space industry.

“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,” Gall stated.

NRFC CIO Dr Mary Manning pointed to Southern Launch’s role in high-profile space missions as part of the rationale for the investment.

“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,” Manning commented.

“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.”

Senator the Hon. Tim Ayres, Minister for Science, Industry and Innovation, framed the investment as part of the government’s broader industrial agenda.

“This investment from the National Reconstruction Fund supports the company’s ambition to build out its operations and grow its workforce by 150 people,” Ayres noted. “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.”

From first launch to orbital re-entry

Southern Launch has built a track record since conducting Australia’s first commercial rocket launch in 2020. The company builds and operates spaceports that support commercial and national security space missions, facilitating rocket launches into orbit, sub-orbital launches and range management services for testing rockets, hypersonic technologies and drones.

In February 2025, Southern Launch facilitated the first commercial spacecraft re-entry at its Koonibba Test Range in partnership with US-based Varda Space Industries. The company has since completed a further three re-entries, with the most recent capsule landing back on Earth in May 2026.

Southern Launch’s capabilities extend to returning materials manufactured in space, including next-generation pharmaceuticals developed in microgravity, where the conditions of space allow for developments not possible on Earth.

The company also supported NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission earlier this year.

Its customer base spans multiple countries and sectors, including Varda Space Industries and Lux Aeterna from the United States, Australia’s Defence Science Technology Group (DSTG) and AtSpace, South Korea’s Perigee Aerospace and INNOSPACE, Canada’s Reaction Dynamics and the German Space Agency DLR.

National security and sovereign capability

Brindabella and Company, which led the raise, was founded to address what it describes as a structural gap in Australia’s national security ecosystem – the absence of a dedicated firm capable of mobilising private capital into the technologies and infrastructure that underpin sovereign capability.

Brindabella and Company CEO Anthony Wilson highlighted the breadth of Southern Launch’s operations.

“Southern Launch is a globally unique business supporting orbital and sub-orbital launch, range testing services for terrestrial and maritime UAS and C-UAS, hypersonic testing, in addition to the microgravity drug discovery industry,” Wilson explained. “Southern Launch is well positioned to help Australia become a global centre in the rapidly growing trillion-dollar space economy.”

Workforce growth and regional investment

Southern Launch currently employs 35 people and expects to grow its workforce to 185 full-time positions, including roles in regional South Australia. The NRFC’s investment will allow the company to build out operations and facilities at its existing sites and expand its capabilities to serve customer mission requirements.

The company is headquartered in Adelaide and operates two spaceports – the Koonibba Test Range and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, both located in South Australia.

Manning noted the company’s approach to community engagement as a factor in the NRFC’s decision to invest.

“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,” she added.

Southern Launch has a principles-led approach to First Nations economic participation and care for country. The company collaborates with Koonibba Traditional Owners, including through cultural monitoring of launch and re-entry activities. Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation is a Southern Launch shareholder.

At both spaceports, operations create employment opportunities, support skills development and involve local community members in mission delivery.

Australia’s geographic position, large land mass and coastline and quiet skies offer natural advantages for space launch. The Australian Space Agency estimates that the Australian space sector will be worth $12 billion annually by 2030.