Team Phoenicia is proud to announce that Nova Rocketcraft has successfully selected Team Phoenicia for its rocket engine needs. Nova Rocketcraft is incorporating Team Phoenicia’s engines in its developmental vehicles and its full production rockets as well. This deal will result in refining the Team Phoenicia’s off the shelf engines to Nova Rocketcraft’s needs and could be worth in excess of over one million dollars.
Nova Rocketcraft participated in the Team Phoenicia/Techshop Nanosat Launcher Challenge seminar at Team Phoenicia’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. As a result of the seminar, Team Phoenicia and Nova Rocketcraft negotiated the sale of a Z150 rocket engine and submitted Memorandum of Understanding to Team Phoenicia with its intention of potentially purchasing fifty larger Z550 engines if the performance of the engine was satisfactory.
Nova Rocketcraft returned to Miami and conducted several tests. The Z150 passed with flying colors. To date the Z150 has been fired 15 times by Nova Rocketcraft without damage or degradation of performance. “ A well crafted engine worth the money,“ said Sumontro Sinha, CEO and Chief Engineer of Nova Rocketcraft. “An engine good for maneuvers,” also was reiterated by Hassan Chaubary, Nova Rocketcraft’s GN&C Lead.
“We are more than pleased to work with Nova Rocketcraft. Their work dovetails nicely with our own efforts and together we are able to expand the amount and quality of the data on the Z150 engines. We are extremely excited Nova Rocketcraft will be using our technologies in their flight vehicles. Team Phoenicia has always felt that the GLXP is not just about getting to the Moon, but fostering the NewSpace business ecology. Our partnership with Nova Rocketcraft is a prime example of that ecology taking shape under the auspices of the GLXP,” said Team Leader William Baird.
The Z150 Rocket engine is primarily a RP-1/LOX engine with 150 lbs-f thrust. The Z550 rocket engine is also a RP-1/LOX engine but with a larger 550 lbs-f thrust. They are designed and built by Team Phoenicia at its Menlo Park facility. The Z150 engine can be used with other hydrocarbon fuels and has been.
Nova Rocketcraft is a startup company based in Miami, Florida that is an aspirant entrant into the Nanosatellite Launcher Challenge and plans on following up the NLC by becoming a dedicated nanosat launch provider.
Team Phoenicia is a Google Lunar X Prize participant. Team Phoenicia is landing a rover on the Moon in 2014 to complete the Google Lunar X Prize. The Google Lunar X Prize is a competition to land a rover on the Moon and have it traverse 500m for a combined purse of $30 million. As such it is the largest ever prize set for a challenge. Team Phoenicia has been pursuing the GLXP since November 2007 and is based in Menlo Park, CA.
Posts
