When this thing runs, it really runs. MASA Rockets is developing a liquid-propellant engine that burns LOX and ethanol, and the latest hot fire pushed a pressurized exhaust jet out of the nozzle. That burn lasted only about a second before the engine shut down, but in that short window the hardware produced 1750 pounds of thrust at a chamber pressure of 220 psi. Notably, it came through startup without any rapid self-disassembly, which is exactly what you want to see from a first-stage test like this.
The setup itself looks thoughtfully put together. The engine is bolted horizontally to a metal test stand, and the test relied on pressure instrumentation along with wiring harnesses running to the hardware. Before the countdown, team members worked through a pre-fire checklist, and once things were running they watched multiple camera feeds on displays plus a laptop. For something this energetic, that much remote eyes-on coverage seems like a very sound arrangement.
The numbers give a clear picture of where the project stands. The 1750 lbf result is 55 percent of the 3300 lbf target, so there is real headroom left to chase. The full rocket design comes in at 1100 lbs wet and 450 lbs dry, and the goal is an altitude of 400,000 feet. For that flight, 41 seconds of burn time is required, against the single second achieved on this test.
That gap is the honest open question here. The maker has noted that many more hotfire tests are needed going forward, which reads as a clear-eyed acknowledgment that a one-second burn is only the beginning of the flight-duration story.
Project by MASA Rockets. Watch it on their YouTube channel: