RFA starts hot fire campaign of its first stage

First fire! We have successfully kicked off the hot fire campaign for our first stage at SaxaVord Spaceport. We hot-fired a total of four Helix engines, igniting one by one at four second interval. All engines ran simultaneously for 8 seconds with a total hot-fire duration of 20 seconds. The test ran flawlessly through start-up, steady-state and shutdown.
With this hot fire, we were able to demonstrate that we can nominally operate and control our first stage and all its systems, as well as a cluster of Helix engines.
RFA and our incredible team are marching steadfastly on towards our first test flight, not only in Scotland but also in Augsburg, Portugal and Sweden. Special thanks to our partners at SaxaVord Spaceport for their support at all levels.

[@MattLowne]

Congratulations to team RFA! Huge step towards first flight, and I'm so excited to see the first vertical rocket launch from the UK 😍

[@valmine7507]

wow hello matt lowne how are you

[@user-wq7wf6in1l]

Hey, I know you!

[@chronablitz]

/Scotland

[@OwnittEdits]

@@chronablitz It can be considered the UK too mate.

[@chronablitz]

@@OwnittEdits I know but everyone's making such a big deal about it even though this isn't the first launch from the uk, launcher one coined that. Not to mention that it's a German company, they launched V2's from German soil in the war, why not launch from home turf? The real hype will come when a rocket launches from British/English soil, not Scottish soil.

[@ross077]

Thanks for showing us all these incredible camera angles.

[@ZeroGravityGains]

Let's goooo RFA 🚀🚀🚀, goosebumps when the first engine ignited🔥, such a huge achievement. I respect and salute the hard working people🫡.

[@AnushkaSharmaNushkino]

Exciting times, congratulations all. Hope to get to watch the first launch in person 🎉

[@michaelbryce4421]

Awesome. Congratulations to RFA and Saxa Vord Spaceport.

[@ADummie]

Impressive stuff!

[@user-fs8cz3bf9e]

Just watched Tim Dodd and wow! He knows engineering and the simplicity of a complicated world it can be. I doubt in time he will upgrade to make a 300bar rocket with a bigger beer keg

[@MarkHopewell]

As a former British resident of Augsburg, I was very interested to hear about this development.

[@marcjunghansphotography2134]

Gratulation an das Team der RFA und an alle die mitgeholfen haben so weit zu kommen. Sieht einfach aus, ist aber eine enorme Leistung über alle Diszipline hinweg. Respekt und Bewunderung. Macht weiter so - das wird (ist jetzt schon) ein super Erfolg auf weltklasse Niveau. 💯💯💯💯

[@MarcoTedaldi]

That was impressive! Congratulations to the whole Team and thank you for taking us along with the ride!

[@berliner_6711]

Viel Erfolg kann man nur wünschen! Ich hoffe, ihr schafft das!

[@matthewwynn7787]

This is amazing, I can't wait to go up and watch the launch in person.

[@the1natester734]

That shutdown was cleaaan

[@simonwhite8474]

Really big smile from here in the UK. Well done fellas.

[@keyzer1888]

Congratulations guys!!!!

[@regolith1350]

Go go go RFA! I really like RFA's philosophy and scrappy attitude. I think they are the closest thing to a European version of SpaceX. I wish them luck!

[@TAdamLaird]

Congratulations from America! I am so excited to what you all do in the future!

[@PalNevets-rx9wp]

It's not a proper rocket until you get the Bird flying away for its life shot (35secs)
Congratulations.
I hope everyone is buckled down.
This is going to be one hell of a ride.

[@stefanharfich6356]

I like your control room, looks very basic (almost like in someone’s living room), not as posh as others

[@ThomasDutzky-bj4je]

Go RFA!

[@JesseBusman1996]

Awesome footage! Great work everyone!

[@IronHideVideos]

Awesome! Great work and Congratulations!

[@christianferracane]

AMAZING. Nice job guys!

[@Pottery4Life]

WOOT!! Congratulations!!

[@65psf]

This is fantastic RFA. Paul @ Rexel Lerwick

[@lennartkienle5157]

Looks awesome, so happy to see your success

[@lordriccola]

amazing view, with an even more amazing rocket

[@djpaintles]

Congratulations! Best wishes going into orbit!

[@generalflix]

Simply awesome!

[@schneeekind]

Stark Leute 👑

[@VulgaSpace]

Wonderful !

[@wildsamu9796]

well done!

[@engine42]

Very nice progress and of course pictures. So next time with 9 engines? :)

[@marshall_banana]

glückwunsch :)

[@no-replies]

To infinity and beyond gentlemen.

[@dissaid]

Awesome!

[@ArztvomDienst]

Gänsehaut!

[@madhavilatha7847]

Congratulations 💐💐

[@joyo0076]

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, wo ist euer Testplatz?

[@bigdogben]

Was that a honk at the end? Getting some raptor vibes

[@coffeehouse44]

Came here after watching Everyday Astronaut video with you guys

[@user-wq7wf6in1l]

LETS GOOOOOOOO

[@onurruzgar4635]

How many times can these engines start?

[@neolala2409]

Let them cook 🥹🥹 #GoRFA

[@marc21091]

Thunderbirds are go - or will be soon, on Unst....

[@AeonExploration]

does the extremely staggered ignition reflect an actual flight’s?

[@WizardUli]

I'm very sure that it was just to characterise how vibrations and torque (due to asymetrical thrust) changes, how plumes interact, whether there are some unexpected interactions via fuel system etc... Now they have data for different engines sets/count.
I expect them to normally start in pairs tenths of a second after each same as F9 or Electron (both have 9 engines too).

[@rnedisc]

Nothing like some vague music score over the sound of a rocket engine... Who thought that was a good idea.

[@valmine7507]

sad that newer european start ups are not that shown on the internet

[@imrevadasz1086]

Everyday Astronaut (CZcams channel) just recently released a great video on RFA and Isar Aerospace. Now that both get close to their first launch attempts, they will probably get much more attention.

[@valmine7507]

@@imrevadasz1086 yeah, sadly its only the two most popular ones 😔