BLOODHOUND SSC’s rocket man, Daniel Jubb, reports that the 15.2cm (6-inch) diameter rocket engine was successfully fired on 31st May 2009 at the testing site in the Mojave desert. This is the development version of the rocket that will be installed into BLOODHHOUND SSC. The full-sized rocket will be 45.7cm (18-inches) – three times the diameter of the development version!

The duration of the firing was 12 seconds. Rapid ignition (under 1 second) was achieved. The chamber was throttled over a 6:1 ratio and combustion was smooth at all settings.

Daniel explains how a rocket works ...

Daniel talks about the challenges of a rocket engine

Daniel talks about the challenges of Bloodhound's 18" rocket chamber

In this episode, we go behind the scenes at the Falcon rocket test facility as the BBC film the 6" firing in August 2011 for their flagship science programme Bang Goes The Theory

Friday 12th August 2011: After several days (and long nights) preparing his new UK rocket facility, Daniel Jubb and his Falcon rocket team successfully fired the development 6 inch diameter hybrid rocket today.

Although the day was set up specifically for the BBC to record an item for the forthcoming "Bang Goes the Theory" programme, Daniel explained that it was a genuine development firing - the chamber being used had already been fired in a previous test, and one of the goals of today's test was to see how the rocket would perform being fired again.