Startup · $26m raised
South Australian rocket launchpad and spaceport operator
Adelaide, SA
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Southern Launch raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Harvey | Series A | - |
| Australian Space Agency | Grant | - |
| Brindabella and Company | Series A | - |
| Coupland Asset Management | Series A | - |
| Modern Manufacturing Initiative | Grant | - |
| National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) | Series A | $10,000,000 |
| National Reconstruction Fund Corporation | Series A | $10,000,000 |
| Nicholas Moore | Series A | - |
| NRF Corporation | Series A | $10,000,000 |
Companies Southern Launch acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Stories naming Southern Launch. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Satellite-monitoring camera maker HEO has landed a $37 million Series B, with the federal reconstruction fund contributing $10 million, and will grow its team while pushing more cameras into geostationary orbit.
Also Forbes Australia·Space Connect·This Week in Australian Startups·Dynamic Business
The Australian government is lifting its industry-policy focus on space; the National Reconstruction Fund has already put $200 million into local space companies, among them Gilmour Space Technologies and Southern Launch.
Weekly roundup: Firmus completes its $2.85b round; Procore acquires DroneDeploy; Atlassian rebounds while Canva cuts guidance; plus fresh raises for Zabidou, BioScout, Vexev, Enrola, Spacetalk and others.
Cut Through Venture's Q2 2026 report counts $1.7 billion announced across 64 venture rounds, carried by two mega-deals, with record median deal sizes, AI concentration, and deal counts at their slowest since before 2020.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Western Australia's government is putting $6.5 million into the local space sector, dividing it between the AROSE consortium and Curtin University's Binar satellite program, with South Australia's bigger spend cited for comparison.
Southern Launch raised a $25m Series A with $10m from the National Reconstruction Fund, led by Brindabella and Company and including ex-Macquarie executives and Coupland Asset Management, to grow headcount and launch services.
Counter-drone maker DroneShield has appointed retired Rear Admiral Lee Goddard as an independent non-executive director, citing his decades of defence leadership and board experience.
Australia and the US have signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement easing American rocket launches from local spaceports, while Gilmour has banked an extra $55 million ahead of the debut flight of its Eris rocket.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: ARM Hub's anniversary, DroneShield orders, EMVision's milestone grant, SciDev results, a SEA Electric hire, ATSE's policy submission, and spaceport funding for Koonibba.
Roundup of manufacturing news: federal grants for four NSW manufacturers, a Victorian plastics recycling investment, Southern Launch's new Adelaide headquarters, AusBiotech's call for speakers, and Queensland grant applications opening.
Also @AuManufacturing
Seven South Australian manufacturers, including Bickford's, Orora and Inovor Technologies, have received federal grants totalling $48 million under Round 2 of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative's Integration and Translation streams.
Podcast interview with HEO Robotics chief executive Dr William Crowe about his space startup, plus Australian space news: a discovery centre opening, a rocket motor test, and a first space commander.