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Setbacks have hit the testing of a hybrid rocket engine that will be used in the Bloodhound project’s land speed record attempt.
The team behind the project has been unable to perform vital static firing tests that will help determine the safety and acceptability of the engine because of a lack of suitable sites in the UK.
Three test sites have so far been evaluated and rejected over health and safety fears. The tests were originally slated for summer 2011.
The engine is the largest rocket to be tested in the UK for 20 years. Many test sites now have housing and other developments encroaching on them. Daniel Jubb, developer of the Bloodhound rocket engine, said: “On all three locations either the safety envelope or the noise envelope was too large for the site.” Negotiations have begun to use a further test site, the details of which are yet to be made public.
Jubb added: “It is frustrating for me. There is somewhere in the US with a suitable range.” This site in the Mojave Desert belongs to the Falcon Project – the company founded by Jubb that is designing, developing and manufacturing the rocket for Bloodhound.
But the Bloodhound group wants the testing to be done in the UK so that it is closer to people and the media, said Jubb.
The group has six months to iron out the problems before the delay in testing has the potential to hold back the entire project.
At the moment the rocket and car development projects are running on different tracks that will converge for the first time next summer when the prototype hardware will be needed for vehicle assembly.
Jubb admitted that the Bloodhound programme has taken a little longer than planned to get to its current stage. “Because we are pushing so far beyond the current record we are very much into unknown territory. We have had to go the extra mile to get a car that we are confident can safely get to 1,000mph. It has taken that extra time to get everything sorted,” said Jubb.
The design of the car has now been finalised. The manufacture of some substantive components of the car, including the liquid oxidiser pump for the rocket, has also been completed, as well as a 6m assembly jig.
Aiming for 1,000mph-plus
Weighing in at 400kg and measuring 4m long by 45.7cm wide, the Bloodhound’s rocket is designed to help the car reach speeds of over 1,000mph. As a hybrid it combines solid fuel with a liquid oxidiser to create power. The solid fuel is made from synthetic rubber known as HTPB, which is combined with metal powders and burning rate modifiers. This will be burnt with the liquid oxidiser high test peroxide (HTP).
The rocket will burn for 20 seconds per run, consuming 181kg of solid fuel and 963g of liquid HTP to produce 122kN of peak thrust. The car’s other main engine, a state-of-the-art EJ 200 jet from a Eurofighter aircraft, will add a further 90kN of thrust.