On November 23rd, 2019 the UCI Rocket Project conducted its first ever static test fire of our Preliminary Test Engine (PTE) at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry location in the Mojave Desert. PTE is the largest liquid oxygen and liquid methane fueled rocket engine created by undergraduate students. It was designed to have a showerhead injector, ablatively cooled chamber, and graphite nozzle. During the static test fire, we achieved 3 seconds of burn time with a maximum thrust of 740 pounds. With this test fire, we have set the record for highest thrust for a university developed liquid oxygen-liquid methane rocket engine. Future test fires will improve on this and further increase the record.
