Brunswick-based rocket company bluShift Aerospace fired a new, larger engine for 20 seconds Friday.
After the test at Brunswick Executive Airport, bluShift founder Sascha Deri said his team will still need to look at test data and other footage before determining if the engine was burning efficiently.
"I could see some evidence that we were, perhaps, a little bit fuel rich. Now, that's just my observation. I have to see the data," Deri said. "So, what we're going to ultimately see is what the thrust data was, the flow rate of the fuel and the oxidizer and, from that, we can find out whether we were truly more efficient, or not."
Deri says the engine will eventually be used to launch small payloads on sub-orbital flights into space. He says his company is now aiming to launch a version of the rocket, named Starless Rogue by the end of next year.
