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Space Concordia believes that after it recently successfully completed its first full flight-duration test of the Starsailor rocket engine, the engine is ready for flight.
The hot-fire rocket engine test, which lasted 30 seconds, was performed on farm land in the Yamachiche, Québec municipality between Montreal and Trois-Rivières.
Watch the Starsailor hot fire rocket engine test
Space Concordia said the success was the culmination of a “6-year journey,” “hundreds of engine tests, and 17 hotfires” and declared the “engine design is ready for flight.”
The test while successful, did encounter one issue that didn’t take away from the success and had more to do with the testing setup. Team leader, Oleg Khalimonov, reported that “at about 15 seconds into our burn, we noticed a dip in in our fuel flow, as one of our tank sets from the test stand started to deplete. While this did cause a ~12% dip in our thrust level, it caused our engine to burn in an oxygen-rich state, making our test much hotter and harsher for the engine walls and injector. With the engine still able to perform without damage in this 3500 degrees C environment is a testament to the steadfast resilience of the team and their engine.”
Space Concordia said it will now focus on launch preparations including “final vehicle integration, systems testing, and mission planning” ahead of a launch attempt. No other details about a future launch were released.
- More on rocketry from Space Concordia
