Watch: Rocket engine ignites like never before, incredible slo-mo video makes jaws drop

Texas-based space company Firefly Aerospace recently tested one of its rocket engines and the resulting view was mindblowing. The test was carried out earlier this week at company headquarters at Cedar Park of the Miranda engine which will soon power Firefly's Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV). Thanks to YouTubers running a channel named 'The Slo Mo Guys', the rocket engine was filmed lighting up for a duration of 30 seconds, and it left the film crew in awe. 

We had a blast @Firefly_Space filming a hot fire rocket test in super slow-mo - results at the end of the video. Massive thanks to @GavinFree @TheSlowMoGuys for lending us his camera! Full story @BBCClick this weekend https://t.co/dLY10vvRQS pic.twitter.com/GCuEgJwP9D

— Spencer Kelly (@spenley) March 25, 2023

The video was filmed by Spencer Kelly of BBC for his show and it managed to clearly capture the rumble created by the Miranda rocket engine. First ignited with the crucially important TEA-TEB (triethylaluminum-triethylboron) igniter, the engine roars to life with a thick orange flame coming out of its nozzle.

The slow-motion video shown later incredibly captures the green flame by the TEA-TEB and the jaw-dropping shock waves that bounce off the orange flames. "This entire place is shaking," one of the filmmakers can be heard saying in the video. 

"With 230,000 pounds of thrust (lbf), Miranda is building on the success of Lightning (15,759 lbf) and Reaver (45,000 lbf) with proven engine scalability. Miranda uses the same engine architecture, injector design, and patented tap-off cycle as the Reaver and Lightning engines that power Firefly’s orbital Alpha vehicle," the company said in an official release following the test. 

Firefly perseveres to 'fill the void'

Firefly aims to 'fill a void in the medium-lift market' and is currently working on developing the Miranda engine with Northrop Grumman. This engine will be equipped in the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) that stands 183.7 feet (55.7 meters) tall and will be capable of carrying 14,000 kg to lower Earth orbit (LEO). Firefly says its 5-meter class payload fairing (rocket's nose where satellites are crammed) can be customized based on customer needs. Moreover, this two-stage rocket would use seven Miranda engines each capable of producing 2,00,000 pounds of thrust. 

(MLV specifications; Image: Firefly Aerospace)

Firefly has had one successful launch in two attempts so far. It recent one was conducted on October 1, 2022, using the Alpha rocket from the Vanderberg Space Force Station in California and arguably ended in a success. Arguably because while the rocket launched smoothly to orbit, the half-a-dozen satellites it was carrying could not reach the intended orbit and fell back to Earth. Firefly still insisted that the mission was a 100% success.