Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, February 19 – February 23, 2024

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading.

5) Gilmour Space raises $55m, Eris rocket heads for space

The historic launch of an Australian developed and manufactured rocket is closer with Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space Technologies closing a $55 million Series D capital raise ahead of the company’s maiden orbital launch later this year.

Led by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) with Blackbird, Main Sequence and Australian superannuation funds HostPlus and HESTA, the capital will fund the manufacture, test and launch of Eris Orbital Launch Vehicles and satellites to orbit.

Gilmour are building a space services company including rocket and satellite production, and launch services from their Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland.

4) Bigger fleet, more firepower, jobs for decades – just add dollars!

It is amazing what a little cold hard cash – an extra $11 billion bringing the total to $38 billion over 10 years to be exact – can do.

The federal government has tried to work wonders by piling the cash into the defence budget to achieve three of what seemed like impossible goals in the shape of the future Royal Australian Navy fleet announced today.

The Queensland government is getting back in the venture capital game and directly investing in young – and inherently risky – businesses, writes Peter Roberts.

State owned VCs have been on the nose since the failure of the Victorian Economic Development Corporation and subsequent abolition in 1993, its demise as much a result of the recession of the early 90s as it was a failure of public policy.

2) MRFF awards $50 million to Australian team developing artificial heart

The federal government has announced $50 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to assist development and commercialisation of an Australian inventor’s total artificial heart, which uses a rotor rather than pulsation to move blood through a patient’s body.

According to a statement on Tuesday from federal health minister Mark Butler, the grant to the  Artificial Heart Frontiers Program was the third-largest in almost a decade of the MRFF’s existence.

The consortium involves five universities, three clinical partners, and BiVACOR.

1) K-Tig goes into administration

Automated welding manufacturer K-TIG has gone into administration, with Korda Mentha appointed as administrators.

No reason was given for the move. Administrators have been appointed to K-TIG as well as a subsidiary Keyhole TIG Pty Ltd.

The appointment does not extend to Keyhole TIG (USA) Inc. and Keyhole TIG (UK) Ltd which are continuing to trade on a business as usual basis.

And in case you missed our podcast…

In episode 84 of @AuManufacturing Conversations, Faz Pollard from Adarsh Australia tells us about the sometimes-underappreciated place of production within manufacturing, the need to take care of our own waste, what companies should consider before investing in robotics, and more.

Picture: credit Monash/BiVACOR