Overview
- Astrobase publicly unveiled EVEREST on Friday as a fully integrated liquid‑oxygen/methane full‑flow staged combustion engine rated at about 800 kilonewtons of thrust and roughly 340 seconds specific impulse.
- The company says EVEREST was designed and assembled in Bengaluru and that a 21.5‑acre test site near Anantapur will host the planned full‑scale hot‑fire campaign in the coming months.
- EVEREST remains at a pre‑test stage despite prior subscale hot‑fires in September 2025 and turbopump trials in early 2026, and Astrobase has not yet conducted any full‑scale ground firings.
- Astrobase has announced plans to manufacture dozens of engines a year, to test roughly 20 before first flight, and to attempt a maiden orbital launch using the engine’s vehicle by December 2028 if testing and qualification succeed.
- Industry observers note the FFSC cycle offers high efficiency and reuse benefits but is technically demanding, so global comparisons to mature systems like SpaceX’s Raptor reflect the large testing and reliability gap that remains.