French rocket builder HyPrSpace has completed the first successful hot fire test of its Terminator stage demonstrator.
HyPrSpace is developing a small rocket called the Orbital Baguette One (OB-1), which will be powered by hybrid rocket engines. The company’s hybrid rocket technology has been developed with support from the French General Directorate of Armament (DGA) and the Defense Innovation Agency. While the company has recently removed all specifics about its rocket from its website for a “redesign phase,” the most recently released information stated that OB-1 would be capable of delivering payloads of up to 250 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
In early May, the company shared an image of Terminator, an eight-tonne demonstrator of the hybrid rocket engine that will power its OB-1 rocket. Earlier today, HyPrSpace announced that on 11 July, it had completed the first hot fire test of the Terminator demonstrator at the DGA Missile Tests on its site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles. The test lasted for approximately 20 seconds.
According to a statement on LinkedIn, the company will now move forward with the test campaign with the goal of a “full exploration of the operating range of the technology.”
In a 16 July press release, HyPrSpace added that it would then move to the next steps in its development roadmap, including integrating the liquid oxygen tank into the engine and adding a thrust vector control system.
HyPrSpace aims to conduct a suborbital test flight of its propulsion technology in 2026.
