When Launcher successfully completed a thrust chamber assembly hot fire at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in late August, it was just the latest in a string of testing milestones for the small satellite launch company.
For the past two years, Launcher has partnered with Stennis near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to conduct testing for its 3D-printed Engine-2 (E-2) rocket engine.
Launcher is developing the 22,000-pound-thrust engine in the midst of a new space race, which has rocket designers and engineers thinking small.
The Hawthorne, California, company is one such startup vying to lead in what is known as the “small satellite launcher class” of rockets. With information collected from its Stennis test campaign, the company is seeking to develop the world’s most efficient rocket capable of delivering small satellites to orbit around Earth.
The August milestone for Launcher followed a string of testing achievements in the E Test Complex at Stennis.
The Launcher E-2 and the first testing campaigns at Stennis were funded, in part, through a U.S. Space Force Small Business Innovation Research (Phase II) award.
For information about Stennis Space Center, visit: www.nasa.gov/centers/stennis.
