Maine-based bluShift Aerospace is accelerating its plans to launch a suborbital rocket by the end of 2025, following substantial advancements in its propulsion technology.
After successfully testing its engine burn in October, bluShift Aerospace, located at Brunswick Landing in southern Maine, is aiming for a significant milestone: executing a suborbital flight test toward late 2025. The company made history in January 2021 by being the first to commercially use non-toxic biofuel to propel its initial rocket prototype, Stardust 1.0, during a successful test launch.
CEO and founder Sascha Deri highlights that the rocket’s unique fuel, an agricultural byproduct accessible on a global scale, serves as its ‘secret sauce.’ Having succeeded in its initial propulsion technology trials, bluShift plans to enter the commercial launch market, focusing on lowering costs and establishing a private launch site in Maine. By October 2024, the company reached a breakthrough with a full engine burn of its Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine for Vehicle Launch (MAREVL).
In an interview, Deri states that the company conducted two successful engine tests and overhauled its testing infrastructure, leading to the creation of a flight-ready 30-foot-tall oxidizer tank. This scalability allows bluShift to test their Starless Rogue and lightweight versions of their MAREVL technology in full vertical stacks. The company collaborates with the Department of the Air Force to expand market opportunities by introducing non-toxic, reusable boosters to a broader range of launch vehicles, potentially reducing booster costs significantly.
The funding efforts have been equally progressive. bluShift recently raised over $1.4 million through private investments and initiated a $15 million equity round to support the launch plans for Starless Rogue at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Deri outlines that by the end of 2025, a low-altitude launch with paying customer payloads is envisioned, marking this as both an engineering and a revenue-generating venture with aspirations to later relaunch the vehicle pending a commercial license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Deri further explains the necessary steps to come, indicating that planning for additional tests, including a vertical stack burn of MAREVL, will proceed in early 2025. The construction of both the launch vehicle and the infrastructure at Spaceport America is slated for the summer, allowing a launch by late fall or early winter. He suggests that if the FAA license is obtained sooner, a direct space launch could be pursued by mid-2026, aiming between 120 to 140 kilometers altitude.
Looking towards future advancements, bluShift anticipates upgrading its Starless Rogue with lightweight components for enhanced performance. This upgrade aims at reaching altitudes of 350 to 400 kilometers, providing six to eight minutes of zero-gravity for client payloads. BluShift’s longer-term aspirations include creating an orbital launch capacity off the coast of Maine, offering direct access to polar and sun-synchronous low Earth orbits, a unique feature in the U.S. private launch market.
The approach also considers developing launchpads on lift boats to offer more launch locations along the U.S. coast, granting flexible access to various orbits. BluShift is committed to a strategy of ‘crawl, walk, run, and dash,’ where initial efforts focus on capturing unserviced market niches by offering longer research durations in space, before progressing to clustered booster capabilities and eventually full orbital launches.
With substantial progress in its propulsion technology and strategic collaborations, bluShift Aerospace is poised to transform the space launch industry through innovative and cost-effective solutions. The upcoming launch in 2025 marks a significant step towards realizing its vision of providing enhanced space access options from the U.S. East Coast.
Source: Space
