Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace installed its new oxidizer tank in mid-July. Courtesy of bluShift Aerospace

A Brunswick-based aerospace company announced this week that it installed a reusable oxidizer tank, which stores liquid needed for a rocket engine to work in the vacuum of space, bringing it one step closer to testing its rocket engine.

The Maine-made, stainless steel tank, valued around $100,000, was installed at bluShift Aerospace’s headquarters at Brunswick Landing in mid-July. Now, the company said it is preparing for engine-burning tests of its MAREVL (pronounced “marvel”) rocket engine later this summer, which will be used in its currently developing rocket, the Starless Rogue.

“The whole objective here is to provide a whole new level of research capabilities that were unavailable to scientists and commercial researchers across the United States, let alone across the world,” said Sascha Deri, CEO and founder of bluShift Aerospace.

The new tank, which is made of stainless steel, is 30 feet tall. The tank will carry 400 gallons of oxidizer, helping power a full flight for the Starless Rogue rocket. Courtesy of bluShift Aerospace

The 30-foot-tall oxidizer tank, which Deri said is the most expensive piece of the rocket, will hold 400 gallons of oxidizer, allowing the rocket to fly all the way to the Kármán line (the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space).

Deri said that in the current market, researchers can test out products in space for about one minute of what scientists call “zero G-time” or microgravity. The plan at bluShift is to meet niche customer research needs by expanding that time.

“We will be able to ultimately provide them with six to eight minutes,” Deri said. “On a human scale, that’s not very long, either, but for researchers, we’re talking quadrupling or more the time that they can do science in space. And some experiments simply can’t be done in the short time frame that our competition provides.”

Deri said that the materials researchers want to send up in the rocket vary. Some companies want to test materials they will use on larger rockets or satellites, and others want to send up cameras to do aerial research of the ocean. In non-research cases, Deri said that the company has had inquiries to launch loved ones’ ashes up to space.

Whatever the purpose, Deri said that the goal for reusability at bluShift plays a significant role meeting customer needs. This goal, however, comes with challenges.

Deri said that the use of steel in the new tank, which was largely manufactured by Rockland-based company Steel-Pro Inc., contributes to its reusability. Finding the right steel alloy for the purpose of the tank, however, was one of the first challenges the bluShift team had to decipher when building it.

“I think it’s a difficult challenge when you have to design for reusability, because you end up having things a little bit heavier and a little more robust. But it is a far more cost-effective endeavor,” Deri said. “Nobody wants to drive a car to the store and leave a car there because it’s one-time use. Same thing goes with rockets — they’re very expensive and you want to make sure that you can use them over and over again.”

In line with its sustainable initiatives, bluShift will also use a nontoxic, bio-derived fuel in the MAREVL engine. The fuel, which is blended in Brunswick, is made from agricultural resources. While specifics of the fuel are not shared publicly, Deri said it’s safe enough to eat and did so on a CNN segment in 2022.

“We really want to change how the new space industry operates and think about taking care of our planet as much as exploring what’s beyond,” he said.

For now, a few more tests for the tank are in queue before more serious engine testing. Though a date is not yet set, the engine burn test will be livedstreamed on YouTube.