Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine News Today

Temperatures reaching thousands of degrees. Brutal cosmic conditions. Novel exploratory missions traversing billions of miles. The challenges of manufacturing for extreme conditions are technical and inventive. We checked in with some of these companies.

BluShift plans to raise $500,000 to $1 million by November to complete 20 or more engine tests for fine-tuning to flight grade performance.

Nearly 1,300 investors helped the campaign to raise over $1 million for Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace.

Twenty-three percent of investors were from Maine. The campaign allows the company to immediately begin work on fuselage design and a telemetry system.

BluShift Aerospace CEO Sascha Deri said the test 'was exactly what we were hoping for.'

The test was the first of a series that’s expected to culminate later this year in the launch of full-sized commercial rocket, powered by a bio-derived fuel, into low-Earth orbit.

BluShift Aerospace CEO Sascha Deri said the test 'was exactly what we were hoping for.'

BluShift Aerospace CEO Sascha Deri said the test 'was exactly what we were hoping for.'

The goal is to complete construction of infrastructure on the island, off the Washington County coast, in time for a rocket launch next summer. Other locations have been identified for mission control and antenna arrays.

As Brunswick-based bluShift nears its crowd equity funding milestone of $500,000, development continues on the startup's bio-fueled engine. Options are cropping up for a remote coastal site that would accommodate launches over the ocean.