Launcher signs on with Stennis

WASHINGTON - Small launch vehicle startup Launcher has signed an agreement with the Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi to use the E-1 test stand at the center for tests of its E-2 engine that the company is developing for a small launch vehicle. The Brooklyn, NY-based company signed a Space Act Agreement with SSC in March. But CEO Max Haot said in an April 14 interview the Launcher had planned to conduct tests of the 3D-printed combustion chamber for the E-2 on Long Island that they have used for smaller engine tests. Those tests are part of a $1.5M Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from last November. “We had always assumed that Stennis was out of our expense range for now,” Haot said. Stennis officials contacted Launcher after the SBIR to discuss how the center could affordably support those tests. “We basically found a mode of operation and a deal that made sense for us at our current size.” Testing at SSC removed some of the environmental issues at the Long Island site. Stennis also has the infrastructure that included access to high-pressure nitrogen needed for engine tests, he continued. “If we’re doing it ourselves we’re dealing with more than 50 bottles for each test. There (at SSC) it comes from the tap.” Launcher is working on the specific test stand structures it needs with the goal of being ready to start combustion chamber tests in the summer. One complication is that Stennis is one of a dozen NASA facilities currently at Stage 4 under its pandemic response framework, effectively closing the center except for safety and security. Haot said he hopes that by the time the company is ready to set up the test stand, SSC will have reopened. The long-term agreement allows the firm to perform full-scale E-2 engine tests at Stennis. The goal is to complete testing of the engine by the close of 2021. (Source: Space News 04/14/20) https://spacenews.com/launcher-to-test-engines-at-stennis/