AI-designed rocket engineAI-designed rocket engine. © Leap 71

An AI-designed rocket engine has completed an 11-second fire test.

Leap 71, a computational engineering company, tested its AI-created aerospike rocket engine, which produced 5,000 Newtons of thrust during the trial. Designed by the company’s AI system, Noyron, the engine was fully developed and optimized without human intervention.

Leap 71 AI-designed rocket engine (2)AI-designed rocket engine. © Leap 71

The engine was 3D-printed as a single copper piece, simplifying production and avoiding complex assembly. Powered by cryogenic liquid oxygen and kerosene, this achievement highlights the potential of combining AI design with additive manufacturing in aerospace.

Leap 71 AI-designed rocket engine (3)AI-designed rocket engine. © Leap 71

Aerospike engines, valued for their efficiency across different altitudes, have been studied since the 1950s but rarely used in practice. Leap 71 tackled the main challenge—cooling the central spike, which faces extreme temperatures of 3,500ºC—by integrating advanced cryogenic oxygen channels and kerosene-cooled combustion chambers.

Leap 71 AI-designed rocket engine (4)AI-designed rocket engine. © Leap 71

With this milestone, the company plans to refine its AI system and conduct further tests in 2025 to prove the feasibility of aerospike engines for future spacecraft.

source Leap 71