Stardust, biofuel launch vehicle, bluShift Aerospace, Inc., Brunswick, Maine, USA

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Developer - bluShift Aerospace, Inc.

 

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Stardust 1.0 launch

Streamed live on Jan 31, 2021

bluShift Aerospace launches the Stardust 1.0 prototype sounding rocket from the Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone, Maine, marking the world’s first first rocket launch powered by bio-derived fuel to carry commercial payloads. The stream started at 9 AM EST, and launch is scheduled for 10 AM EST.

Actual launched occured at ~3PM ET.

This low-altitude demo launch will be the culmination of six years of R&D, over two hundred engine tests, the successful realization of grants from NASA and the Maine Technology Institute, and the development of a novel modular hybrid rocket engine.

Rocket launches are often delayed for a variety of reasons, including weather. We’ll keep you posted if we are delayed.

 

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Stardust 1.0 in flight

Feb 1, 2021

Video of the historic flight of Stardust 1.0, Maine's first commercial rocket launch and the first rocket launch powered by bio-derived fuel to carry commercial payloads, courtesy of Knack Factory.

 

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Article "Groundbreaking biofuel rocket could be 'Uber for space'"

by Jane O'Brien
February 1, 2021

 

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bluShift Aerospace Stardust 1.0 launch

Feb 1, 2021

bluShift Aerospace launched the company’s first prototype sounding rocket Stardust 1.0 (Stardust Generation One) on a low-altitude demo launch from the Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone, Maine, on 31 January 2021, at 20:04 UTC (15:04 EST). bluShift Aerospace is developing a line of rockets powered by bio-derived fuels to launch small satellites into space: Stardust Gen. 1, Stardust Gen. 2, Starless Rogue and Red Dwarf.