Last Saturday, members of DARE’s liquid propulsion team have successfully conducted a first series of tests of a liquid fuel rocket engine. Between 1PM and 2PM, two so called hot fire tests were performed of the DEIMOS rocket engine. The DEIMOS rocket engine is fueled using liquid ethane and liquid nitrous oxide. This propellant combination is relatively easy in use and has many different applications ranging from being a test bed for new technologies to satellite thrusters.

Still from test video showing exhaust plume of engine.

The tested rocket engine is to be used within DARE to acquire experience with this type of rocket engines. Bart Buyens who studies Space and Aerospace Engineering at the TU Delft, will be using the engine for determining certain characteristic properties of engines running on this propellant mixture for his graduation thesis. DARE aims to fly an actual rocket using a derivative of the DEIMOS engine during the summer of 2013.