Born in Melbourne, John Godfrey Harkness served in the RAAF from 1964 to 1970 as an Instrument Technican and then with Watson Victor Nicholas as a Intrument Technican Supervisor.
He worked on minor and major repairs and modification to both subsonic and supersonic aircraft including the Mirage, Macchi and Sabre.

The official world record at the time of his turbo jet and rocket powered project was 1001 km/h, according to the graphs and supporting data Aurora Australis was capable of 1100 km/h, but he was actually aiming for 1200 km/h.

A 1/8th scale model was constructed and wind tunnel tests were conducted in 1980. This showed the design was capable of speeds up to 2000 km/h (approx 1250 mph)

Government support of the project was granted in 1988 and a proposal for sponsorship was prepared, but never secured.

John esitmated he would need $880,000 to complete the project.