Canadian Arrow rocket engine successfully tested at 45,000 lbs thrust – moving private space company closer to flight status
Canadian Arrow has successfully tested their main engine designed to produce the thrust required for liftoff of the rocket.
The test, conducted on May 5th at a site north of London, is the latest in a series completed on the rocket engine for the Canadian Arrow launch vehicle.
“Canadian Arrow now has an engine with the thrust required to launch passengers to space,” said Canadian Arrow president and CEO Geoff Sheerin.
The engine, designed for 57,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, is a reproduction of the V-2 engine flown by the Germans during the WWII and later by the USA and Russians in the early days of the cold war. It became the genesis of each country’s present space programs. It is fueled by a mixture of liquid oxygen and ethyl alcohol and at full pressure, consumes approximately 250 pounds of propellant per second. Thursday’s test was a significant milestone in the test of this actual flight hardware.
The engine and test stand are part of a 45 ft. tall structure that is surrounded on three sides by concrete walls that are two feet thick. Large earth berms stand between the engine test structure and the control centre that is built into the ground, and is where the team electronically directed and monitored the test.
“The decision to rebuild the V-2 engine was a good one” said Sheerin. “We now have an engine that we know works from the launch pad all the way into space.”
Video of the test is available to the media at:
