We have been showing you some videos of the progress and basic system testing that has been going on around the massive effort behind the Bloodhound SSC land speed vehicle that will attempt to become the first “car” to go 1,000mph next year with Andy Green driving. The vehicle will use a turbine engine but it will also use a hybrid rocket to help boost its power and speed (hopefully) into the four digit territory. These guys are essentially trying to do for the land speed record what Larry Larson did with the street legal. After decades of incremental improvement, they are looking to make a smoking crater out of the  existing mark (that the team already owns) and push it to a place where few others may ever dare to reach. From seeing Rolls Royce spin test wheels to over 1,000mph to this test firing of a rocket at the NAMMO facility in Norway, this is the furthest thing from a backyard effort and in many ways it has become a national enterprise for the entire country of England where the operation is based. Like all massive projects, this one has its critics, but given Richard Noble’s track record and Andy Green’s sheer balls, we’re not sure that betting against their success is the smart money. The engineering and testing that has gone into this project so far borders on any might actually exceed what we’d call “military grade”.

We loved seeing the North American Eagle land speed car at SEMA and meeting the guys who are involved with it. They are the anthesis of this operation and we mean that in a way that is demeaning to neither. Whereas the Bloodhound SSC effort is probably the most highly engineered and expensive land speed racing project of all time that involves an army of professionals, engineers, public relations people, video crews, fabricators, and more, the North American Eagle has volunteer help from guys who are brilliant hot rodders just trying to do the best with what they have (which is a fighter plane sans wings). While their operation is humble it is by no means basic. Their car is packed with an array of tech that is astounding to guys like us so we literally cannot imagine what’s going into the Bloodhound SSC.

Watch the video, watch the firing of the rocket and then you tell us if you think that the Bloodhound crew will be successful.

Here’s the full release from the Bloodhound SSC team –

BLOODHOUND’s rocket partner Nammo tests the first in a series of large hybrid rocket motors at their Norwegean test site. The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car will use one Nammo hybrid rocket in high speed testing scheduled for 2015 and a cluster of three rockets in its 1,000mph (1,609 km/h) campaign in 2016.

The design of the motor tested represents the latest in the evolution of hybrid rocket motor technology. Nammo’s hybrid technology is based on a rocket propellant combination of hydrogen peroxide as the oxidiser and synthetic rubber as the fuel.

Hybrid rockets are a safe, controllable, low-cost and green alternative for rocket propulsion.

The test firing of the rocket was an unprecedented success. The firing lasted for a predefined 16 seconds, producing a maximum thrust of 30 kN (or 3 tons). The engine started instantly after ignition and the firing was terminated in a controlled manner by closing the main oxidizer valve. Normally a full burn would have lasted 25 seconds, but on this occasion the test was terminated after 16 seconds for a full inspection. Full integrity of the motor was conserved, meaning that the engine could have been started again to burn for the remaining 9 seconds, if so desired.

Nammo’s work with hybrid technology has been supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) since 2010, notably under its Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP). Nammo’s work fits perfectly with ESA’s objective to foster new promising technologies for future European Launchers and to include green propulsion solutions in their existing systems.

The hybrid rocket motor tested on October 7th is not only interesting from a new technology development perspective; it is also the first building block for the North Star Rocket Family. This family of affordable sounding rockets and small launchers, is developed to launch small satellites into orbit from Andøya Space Center in Northern Norway.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE ROCKET ENGINE THAT WILL HELP PUSH BLOODHOUND SSC GET TEST FIRED IN NORWAY –