The flight, which lifted off on Wednesday morning Australian time, successfully reached space unlike the explosions of both the seventh and eighth test flights shortly after liftoff earlier this year, following hardware adjustments by SpaceX prior to the flight.
Speaking at the Australian Space Summit & Exhibition, the former prime minister urged Australia to develop a stronger space capability that would be interoperable with systems from the US, UK and Japan.
The flight lifted off from Starbase in Texas at 5:30pm CT on Thursday, 6 March, before the upper stage exploded, raining debris down in a dramatic light show that caused significant disruption to commercial aircraft in the area.
The spacecraft touched down at the Koonibba Test Range on Tuesday after spending 61 days in orbit, while the journey home saw the it reach speeds of Mach 25 on its descent.
Brigadier General Anthony J Mastalir will return to this year’s Australian Space Summit & Exhibition to discuss the landmark security partnership alongside Curtin University director Gary Hale.
In an update on Sunday, the Queensland-based firm said it had received approval from the regulator and is now waiting for final clearance from the Australian Space Agency. Gilmour had said it was likely to conduct its maiden blast-off in April, a delay from mid-March.