Скачать или смотреть Skyrora opens the UK’s largest rocket engine factory

Skyrora's second stage of its XL rocket is attached to a stand at a newly-opened test facility, ready for hot fire testing to simulate a real launch.

UK rocket company Skyrora has taken another important step towards an orbital launch from British soil by opening a new manufacturing and production facility, the largest of its kind in the UK.

After recently opening its engine test facility in Midlothian, this new facility in Cumbernauld allows the company to concentrate its launch development practices in custom-built domestic facilities, further strengthening Skyrora’s status as the leader in the UK space race.

The production of two Skyrora vehicles has already commenced at the Cumbernauld site, which will increase up to 16 per year once mass production begins. The site boasts unique capabilities for space infrastructure in the UK, as certain tests that would typically be outsourced to facilities in other countries can now be conducted domestically.

For the very first time, the UK has an asset capable of conducting full-stage structural and pressure testing and full-stage functional and cold flow testing.

Conducting these tests domestically saves significant time and costs, and represents a key advantage for UK space efforts. As such, the maiden testing of the second stage of the Skyrora XL rocket can now be performed from UK soil, having been fully manufactured and assembled in-house. This includes the assembly of the 70kN engine, the most powerful commercially-produced liquid engine in the UK, which has been built using 3D printed engine components.

A critical milestone for the development of the Skyrora XL, the hot fire testing will see the second stage attached to a stand at the newly-opened Midlothian test facility as the engine simulates a real launch. This enables important telemetry data to be collected and analysed on-site. As a three-stage launch vehicle, the second stage of Skyrora XL will start its engines at approximately 62km before releasing the third stage at around 190km for orbital launch.

The Skyrora Vehicle Assembly Building in Cumbernauld consists of 55,000ft2 of factory floor and office space, along with a 67,000ft2 yard large enough to contain the entire Skylark L launch complex and future Skyrora XL launch facilities, for rehearsals, integration works, and launch preparation.

The facility accommodate up to 16 Skyrora XL vehicles for assembly, integration, and launch each year.