Indian rocket developer commissions 210-bar propulsion test facility

(SpaceEnergy) Indian rocket developer Ethereal Exploration Guild has disclosed the commissioning of a 210-bar propulsion test facility at its new Andhra Pradesh development site, ahead of planned reusable rocket engine trials.

The Bengaluru-based company announced on 16 October that its Pegasus Horizontal Static Test Facility was operational at The Anchorage, a 150-acre complex in Space City, approximately 40km from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

The test stand supports pressure-fed testing of ignition systems, thrust chambers, turbomachinery and other engine components, with capacity for subsequent integrated engine firing.

Ethereal said its first hot-fire test of the 80kN Pegasus upper-stage engine is scheduled for November 2026.

Pegasus is being developed for the reusable upper stage of the company's Razor Crest Mk 1 medium-lift launch vehicle. It incorporates a proprietary Full-Flow Segregated Cooling Cycle and a dual-thrust-chamber configuration.

The vehicle's booster is intended to use Stallion, a 1.2MN gas-generator-cycle engine. A separate vertical test facility for Stallion and future clustered-engine testing remains under development.

Ethereal also plans to establish manufacturing, stage qualification and refurbishment infrastructure at The Anchorage, supporting its objective of recovering and reusing both rocket stages.

The company had previously disclosed construction and development of The Anchorage. The qualifying development in its latest announcement is the reported commissioning of the high-pressure test stand, rather than the earlier facility plans.

No successful Pegasus engine firing or completed vehicle qualification was announced.