Gilmour Space completes full test fire of AM rocket engine
May 27, 2022
Gilmour Space Technologies, Queensland, Australia, has shared a video of a successful 190-second Mission Duty Cycle (or mission duration) test fire of its additively manufactured, regeneratively cooled liquid rocket engine, which is available to view here. This engine will power the third stage of the company’s Eris rocket into orbit.
“The first and second stages of Eris will be powered by Sirius, our large hybrid rocket engine which is undergoing qualification tests,” stated Adam Gilmour, CEO. “The third stage of Eris will be powered by this new 3D printed liquid rocket engine, called Phoenix, which we developed to give us the extra performance needed to deliver substantially more payload to orbit.”
Liquid rocket engines are used by most rocket companies around the world, including SpaceX, but are complex and expensive to develop. With the successful completion of this test, Gilmour Space is said to have demonstrated sovereign capability in two different rocket systems.
“The team has done exceptionally well to design, build, and test this new engine in just over a year while also scaling our main hybrid rocket engine, building out the rest of the vehicle, and pushing to develop a new orbital launch site in Australia,” Gilmour added. “Our goal has always been to provide an affordable and reliable option for accessing space, and we believe this unique engine combination will allow us to achieve that for our customers.”
Eris’s maiden launch is targeted to be at the end of this year from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in north Queensland, pending regulatory and other approvals.
