The Polaris Engine

Polaris conducted its first ever full ignition test on August 5, 2023 and ran nominally for 1 second before facing a heavy anomaly, resulting in the loss of the engine. Polaris V1, also known as Engine SN8 internally, was built upon a wooden plate that housed the propellant lines. The propellant lines fed into the combustion chamber, which then forced the propellants (gaseous propane and pressurized air) through the main design failure point, the plastic nozzle. The plastic nozzle has been ruled out as unviable and we will be switching to an all metal design for Polaris V2, We learned a lot from Polaris V1 and will implement new things into Polaris V2, such as a crossflow injector and an all metal design. 

Exela is targeting no earlier than Late 2025 for the first ever static fire of Polaris V3. Polaris V3 succeeds both the Polaris V1 and V2 designs and is the first version of polaris to be truly liquid fueled. It will use ethanol and gaseous oxygen as propellants and feature a true combustion chamber, nozzle and crossflow impinging injector plate. This will be the first real pathfinder for Polaris engines leading up to the Polaris that will fly on Aims-1 NET 2035.