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Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, conducted a full mission duration firing of its new Merlin Vacuum engine, the company announced.
That test, at the SpaceX Test Facility in McGregor, Texas, saw the engine fire for six minutes, consuming 100,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene propellant.
The new engine, which powers the upper stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle, demonstrated a vacuum specific impulse of 342 seconds, which SpaceX stated was the highest efficiency ever for an American...