Framegrab from a video of a long-duration hot fire of the Chi engine. Credit: Mega Engine
HELSINKI — A new Chinese commercial rocket engine startup has conducted a successful long-duration hot fire test of a closed-cycle kerosene-liquid oxygen engine.
Xi’an-based Mega Engine Technology announced successful tests of its “Chi” engine in a Chinese social media post May 25, with a single engine accumulating 1,000 seconds of run time at rated conditions, with total program test accumulation reaching 2,000 seconds.
The company said the high-pressure oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle kerolox engine demonstrated rapid startup, stable operation, and passed post-test inspection with hardware intact.
The engine is designed to produce throttleable thrust at sea-level of 35–75 tons or 87 tons of thrust in vacuum. Sea-level specific impulse is 302 seconds, rising to 350 seconds at altitude.
