French launch services startup HyPrSpace has completed the first test of its second hot fire test campaign for its subscale Terminator stage demonstrator.
HyPrSpace is developing a two-stage launch vehicle called Orbital Baguette One (OB-1) that will be capable of delivering up to 250 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The rocket will be powered by a hybrid propulsion system. While the company is primarily marketing its hybrid propulsion technology for use aboard its own rockets, its website also outlines its potential defense applications.
In July, the company completed an initial hot fire test campaign of Terminator, an eight-tonne demonstrator of a hybrid rocket stage. Over the course of this first test campaign, HyPrSpace completed a total of four hot fire tests.
On 13 December, the company announced the successful completion of the first hot fire test in the second Terminator testing campaign. The test lasted 40 seconds and was conducted at the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA) missile testing site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles.
According to HyPrSpace CEO Alexandre Mangeot, the company achieved an average engine efficiency of 94% during the test. Mangeot added that this represented the “propulsive performance we need for our orbital launcher.”
HyPrSpace is currently targeting the first quarter of 2026 for an initial flight of its suborbital Baguette One rocket. It will then be able to work toward an inaugural launch of its OB-1 rocket.
In March, HyPrSpace was one of four French launch companies that secured launch contracts through the French space agency CNES. The €400-million initiative is funded by the French government through its France 2030 initiative.
