Sirius Space fires complete STAR-1 rocket engine for the first time
Sirius Space Services
French launch startup Sirius Space Services hot-fired its fully integrated methalox STAR-1 engine for the first time.
what happened
Sirius Space Services conducted the first hot-fire tests of its complete STAR-1 engine at Airborne Engineering's propulsion test facility in southern England this summer, announcing the milestone Sept. 12, per European Spaceflight. The tests, which included multiple successful ignitions, marked the first time the engine's turbopumps, combustion chamber, injector plate, avionics and software all operated together. STAR-1 is a liquid oxygen/methane engine producing 55 kN of thrust, designed to power a family of vehicles built around a common core stage with nine STAR-1 engines; Sirius plans a Sirius 1B suborbital demonstrator flight in 2027 ahead of a first commercial Sirius 1 orbital launch in 2028.
why it matters
A working integrated engine is the hardware gate every launch startup has to clear before a maiden flight, and Sirius joins a crowded field of European small-launch entrants (Isar Aerospace, RFA, MaiaSpace, HyImpulse) racing toward orbit on national and ESA-backed funding. The multi-engine, multi-booster vehicle family Sirius is building around STAR-1 signals an ambition to scale payload capacity well beyond a single-core smallsat launcher if the engine keeps performing.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Sirius Space Services
- Category
- product
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-12
- Published
- 2026-09-13 12:27 UTC