On Sunday evening, GSST took a significant step with the first static fire of the Theia booster, a 25 engine first stage intended for future reusable launches. The test, conducted at the newly completed Rodriguez Static Fire Facility, is the first time the company ignited the full set of BS-4B engines on a single core.

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The static fire which lasted 7 seconds began at 9:01 PM EDT. All 25 engines received an ignition command, and lit in a large plume of exhaust, a loud, thunderous rumble, and a wall of dust and steam. However, 5 engines failed to ignite or shut down quickly into startup.

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The vehicle tested was not intended to fly but is a ground test article designed to validate full vehicle behavior under full scale conditions. Theia’s booster is ultimately designed for recovery, equipped with recovery systems intended to support both barge based and RTLS landings.

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“Everything went well, but we did have a few engines shut down which should be fixed before the first flight,” said GSST CEO Xavierevator in a statement. “The vehicle held up well under stress, and surviving the full duration burn with only minor damage is a big deal for a first test of this scale.”

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“Good overall data after the 20 engines that successfully ignited,” said Head of Management, Allan. “Our teams did observe a bright flash that possibly originated from the inner ring of engines, which caused multiple shutdowns. During ground inspection, we saw damage to the engine section, so we are currently analysing that.”

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The Rodriguez facility was built specifically to support high power static testing for GSST’s future vehicles. With a reinforced testing bed and advanced suppression systems, the site is designed to support testing campaigns as the company scales up toward full flight operations.

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While GSST has not released a flight date, the first launch of Theia remains scheduled for later this year, pending further testing and hardware validation. GSST is expected to deliver new engines for the next static fire and refine subsystems to reduce the chance of engine failure.

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The company’s move into large booster development places it in competition with a small but growing number of reusability focused groups. If successful, Theia would become one of the largest active vehicles in the community.