Bloodhound Hybrid Rocket Engine Tested

Since 2011, a group of people have been working on a new vehicle called Bloodhound that aims to capture a land speed record by traveling 1000mph. Back in June of this year the supersonic vehicle's cockpit was completed. The team behind the vehicle panned to assemble the vehicle completely in 2014 and take the vehicle out to South Africa for testing on the fall of 2015.

The goal for the first drive in the car in South Africa is to break the land speed record of 763mph. After that test and any needed refinements, Bloodhound will return to South Africa in 2016 and aim for 1000mph.

One of the crucial steps needed before the vehicle can try to break the speed record is testing of the rocket engine that will propel the car. That test took place this week and was successful. The rocket building partner for the car is called Nammo and they successfully fired the hybrid rocket for 16 seconds.

The rocket performed for the duration of the test with no issues and the test firing was terminated by closing the main oxidizer valve. During the testing, the rocket motor produced about 3 tons of thrust and temperatures reached 2500C in the rocket and 1400C in the plume.