SPRINT Hot Fire Test - August 22nd, 2025

This was the first time Sprint was hot-fired. It took us all week at Launch Canada, and we just barely pulled it off in the last hour of the last day, Friday around 11:30.

We tried twice before on Thursday. Our first attempt resulted in cold-flowing the system due to a threshold error on the ignition. We had tried to use thrust to detect ignition but overestimated how much thrust our igniter produced.

The second attempt failed because the fuel bulkhead servo valve handle was mechanically blocked by the tank mount turnbuckle. Fuel did not flow while the oxidizer did, so we left the fuel in the tank overnight. We realized we could use chamber pressure as well as thrust for ignition detection.

The next morning we arrived at about 6:45 and managed a successful hot-fire. Thrust was reduced because of a partial fill, and the piston likely partially blocked the static vent. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to collect usable data.

Test Video

SPRINT hot fire test demonstrating successful ignition and stable combustion.

Team Photo

SPRINT Team at Hot Fire Test — SPRINT team members at the hot fire test on August 22nd, 2025.