BLOODHOUND supersonic car, as you may know, is a huge multi-national project whose sole goal is to creak the 1000-mph barrier. And they are right on track with their efforts, as the car’s hybrid rocket, largest of its kind in Europe, successfully passed the initial tests at the Aerohub, Newquay Cornwall Airport. It burned for 10 seconds, and generated 14,200 lbs of thrust, which is about 40,000 horsepower.

At its peak performance, this 450 kg rocket will generate c. 27,500lbs of thrust, equivalent to c. 80,000 horsepower (hp), the combined output of 95 Formula 1 cars.

They call this a hybrid rocket, because it combines solid fuel (a synthetic rubber) with a liquid oxidiser (High Test Peroxide, or HTP) reacting with a catalyst (a fine mesh of silver) to produce its power. The fuel is injected into the rocket using a Cosworth F1 engine that acts as the fuel pump!

The actual attempt to go 1000 miles an hour and smash the current record of 763 mph will happen in 2014, on a large track the BLOODHOUND team is carving in a vast desert in South Africa.