A Scottish rocket company, Skyrora, has successfully conducted a series of static test fires of its LEO engine, including a test conducted in a vacuum chamber, designed to replicate the conditions in space.
Skyrora rocket engine tests
All 100 tests were held at the company's Engine Test Complex in Fife and successfully met the test criteria set out by Skyrora. This means that the sub-system of its three-stage orbital launcher, Skyrora XL, is now ready for launch, though this will not happen until 2023.
Skyrora's LEO engine is unique is so far as it is able to reignite several times whilst in orbit. This means that it can deliver different payloads at varying altitudes, depending on the mission, thus acting as a 'taxi' service of sorts for satellite companies.
As the engine has continued to be developed, Skyrora has signed more than 23 letters of intent with interested customers and now plans to have a launch service agreement in place within six months.
The company says that its service will create between 150 and 170 new jobs across Scotland.
Dr Jack-James Marlow, Head of Engineering, Skyrora, said: “These tests were a fundamental step for our verification programme for the third stage LEO engine, which make us a stage closer to fully developing our polar orbital vehicle, Skyrora XL. We designed and manufactured a vacuum tube to allow us to lower ambient pressure conditions to approximately 10% of sea level. This is a great technological achievement for Skyrora.”
The primary purpose of the tests was to verify that the LEO engine’s lifetime cycle was in accordance with ESA standards.
Skyrora says that it has also focused a lot of attention on the environmental impact that its launch vehicles have, and the company plans to use its own equivalent of kerosene - which is derived from unrecyclable plastic waste - as a rocket propellant. In January 2020, the fuel - known as Ecosene - was successfully tested on the LEO engine.
In a press release, Skyrora said it was, "determined to become an eco-friendly launch provider and to continue to focus [its] efforts in protecting the planet."
The next step for Skyrora is to develop the 70kN engine, which will be installed on the first and second stages of the Skyrora XL, as well as looking for launch locations.
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