Project Overview:

• Project Type: Personal Project

• Test Dates: 3/21/2026, 4/18/2026

• Thrust: Designed for 500 lbf, tested to 430 lbf

• Chamber Pressure: Up to ~350psi

• Portability: Fits in a Toyota Corolla

• Propellants: LOx/Kerosene ; LOx/Alcohol

• Burn Time: Tested up to 15 seconds

• Special Thanks: Nathaniel Young (Thrust Chamber / Injector) ; Luke Wybourn (Data and Controls

• Controls: Hand-Loaded Regulator, Individual Purges, Pneumatic Main Valves / Vent Valves

In mid-2025, I made a deal with Nate Young that if he had a regenerative engine to hotfire, I'd make a fluid system to test it on.  On March 21, 2026, Nate, Luke Wybourn, and myself performed the first hotfire tests of the systems, including three hotfires at durations up to 15 seconds.  On April 18, 2026, 4 more hotfires were conducted in a single day, bringing total hotfire duration to 81 seconds across 7 firings.  

System Overview:

The system was designed from the outset with the following goals and requirements in mind.  The system had to deliver adequate flow rates for thrust levels up to 500 pounds, deliver burn durations suitable for steady state thermal conditions on regenerative cooled engines, and crucially, fit in my Toyota Corolla.  Additionally, testing was envisioned to take place at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry test site near Mojave, CA.

The system is a conventional gas-regulated, pressure-fed propellant feed system, featuring 3-gallon propellant tanks, pneumatically actuated main valves and vent valves for high reliability, high flow rate gaseous nitrogen purges for main propellant feed lines and thrust chamber/injector purge, and remote control, sequencing, and handles data acquisition using a LabJack T7, which was implemented by Luke Wybourn.  The data collection suite includes injector manifold pressures, fuel regen coolant temperatures and pressures, tank pressures, system nitrogen pressures, and liquid oxygen injector temperature.

The feed system was entirely built and designed myself as a personal project, and test operations were conducted by Luke Wybourn and myself, though the system was designed with single-operator capability in mind for extremely trimmed down and streamlined test operations compared to that typical of liquid rocket test systems.