SKYRORA has established an engine test complex in Scotland, where it already has successfully tested its 3.5kN engine and three-tonne engine for its sub-orbital and orbital rockets.
The Scottish space firm expects the newly established Engine Test Complex to help the company create more than 170 new jobs in the area by 2030.
Skyrora’s engine test complex layout is fairly minimal, mainly consisting of a fuel and oxidiser loading system to put fuel into both tanks and a pressure supply system to feed the fuel to the engine in the test stand.
Skyrora also built the actual test stand, the road to access the test site and the concrete slab for the test site to sit on. It took the team only a few weeks to build it, at a fraction of the estimated time and cost while making sure all measures followed health and safety guidelines.
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Skyrora’s vision is to test all three engines used on its rocket suite in the one location: the seven-tonne engine for the first and second stage of the orbital Skyrora XL launch vehicle, the 3.5Kn engine for the third stage and the three-tonne engine for the sub-orbital Skylark L launch vehicle.
Based in Fife, the site is estimated to help Skyrora create mainly technical jobs in manufacturing and operations, ranging from mechanical engineering to electronics for avionics systems.
Volodymyr Levykin, chief executive officer of Skyrora, said: “The opening of our engine test complex represents a giant leap forward for the UK’s ambitions as a space nation and Scotland’s status as a space hub.
“The location and additional jobs will benefit the UK space industry and help the overall economy grow. It will also allow Skyrora’s highly skilled workforce and a young generation of engineers and technicians to be a part of this space revolution. Skyrora has developed and come so far as a team and a company, and I am really proud to see how many milestones we have achieved in a short period of time.”
In January 2020, Skyrora announced it had completed up to 25 tests on their 3.5kN upper stage orbital engine testing their Ecosene fuel, an equivalent kerosene derived from unrecyclable plastics.
Right before the UK lockdown measures were implemented, the complex saw the three-tonne engine through several tests. The engine produces 30kN’s of thrust, meaning that it is one order of magnitude greater than the 3.5kN third stage.
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