1,000mph car fired up... for 20 seconds

The mission to produce the world’s first 1,000mph car took a mammoth step forward as the engine was fired up for the first time in front of a global audience of millions.

But after months of planning, it was all over in just a few seconds.

Engineers behind the £10m (€12.5m) Bloodhound supersonic car project said they were immensely satisfied with the landmark test of its hybrid rocket system, which was given the once-over in a hardened air hanger at Newquay Cornwall airport.

Although stationary, the engine roared triumphantly for barely 20 seconds before satisfied engineers closed the machine down. The next step is to analyse the data to determine if it is safe to install into a vehicle.

Rocket engineer Daniel Jubb said: “The initial indications are that it went very well indeed.

“It is heads down looking at the data now, it is probably going to take us a full 10 days to look at that.

“Then we will be preparing for the next firing.

“We have a lot of safety testing to make sure we are happy to put this rocket into a man’s vehicle.”

Jubb, 28, who left school at 13 to run his own company with his grandfather, said he has been getting by on 90 minutes of sleep for the last few nights as the final preparations for Bloodhound’s launch were made.

He said: “This was a very special test, it was putting the entire trial on public display. We haven’t done all our development in secret and then just invited them to the last firing.

“Bloodhound is a fantastic programme. It is very important in the UK that we address the shortage of engineers. Less than an hour before we fired that rocket we had children in there asking questions, I hope that helps inspire the next generation.”

Bloodhound is described as the largest rocket car of its kind to be designed in Europe, yesterday marking the biggest rocket test in Britain for two decades.

A selected audience of 400 people, including many local school children as well as long-time Bloodhound supporters and science buffs were given a close examination of the project’s components before the rocket was tested. A full-sized replica of Bloodhound and its jet engine were also on display.

As the world’s media descended on the Cornish airport, so too hundreds of millions of people logged on to watch a live stream of the rocket test on Bloodhound’s website.

In its ultimate form, the vehicle is expected to generate the combined output of 95 Formula 1 cars.