MUSCAT, OCT6
Muscat-based space propulsion startup Rocket Elements and Technologies (RE&T) has unveiled Khanjar-1, a reusable liquid-fuelled rocket engine it describes as Oman’s first. The company also plans to build an engine-testing facility in Oman and is raising capital this quarter.
Mohammed al Alawi, founder and Chief Executive Officer of RE&T, presented the engine at the Oman Space Conference. He pitched it to commercial launch companies and government-funded space programmes with limited access to propulsion technology.
“We build what gets humanity to space, starting with the core,” Al Alawi said.
Khanjar-1 is designed to deliver 150 kilonewtons of thrust, equivalent to around 15 tonnes-force, using liquid oxygen and liquid methane as propellants. The engine weighs 200 kg, has a vacuum specific impulse of more than 325 seconds and is designed for reuse on up to 10 flights. RE&T is targeting a price below $1 million per engine and a production time of less than a month per unit once development is complete.
Al Alawi said rocket engines account for up to half of a launcher’s cost. Few are available to buy, however, because propulsion is treated as critical, export-controlled technology. Companies developing their own engines face high costs and long lead times, leaving supply chains fragile and some new space programmes unable to sustain themselves, he said.
RE&T is developing the engine with VENG, which it described as the main contractor to Argentina’s space agency, with more than 18 years of rocket propulsion experience. The startup said design, manufacturing and testing would be carried out in-house in Oman. Its joint development agreement with VENG provides for technology transfer.
The company estimates that Khanjar-1 could cut engine costs by more than 50 per cent and reduce engine costs per flight by up to 90 per cent through reuse. It also expects the engine to help reduce launch costs by up to around 50 per cent when used on a reusable first stage.
RE&T compared Khanjar-1 with Rocket Lab’s Rutherford engine, saying its engine would be available to different launcher manufacturers rather than tied to one company’s vehicles.
It also said two Khanjar-1 units could replace the Rutherford engines used on an Electron rocket, at roughly one-seventh of the propulsion cost per flight. The company is targeting an approval time of less than a month for engine sales.
Al Alawi said several space agencies and two commercial companies had expressed interest in Khanjar-1. RE&T is working to finalise letters of interest with them before technical engagement begins.
Founded in August 2025, RE&T took first place in the national Oman Space Accelerator Programme (OSAP) and secured funding support from Future Fund Oman earlier this year.
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