Modern software development moves fast. Updates roll out seamlessly, with new features and fixes integrated through continuous testing and delivery. Meanwhile, the propulsion systems powering rockets, hypersonic vehicles, and next-generation aircraft are constrained by rigid, outdated testing cycles. Each new engine iteration requires costly, time-consuming validation, leading to delays, ballooning budgets, and preventable failures.
Propulsion Testing Is Stuck in the Past
The discrepancy between software and hardware testing is stark. Consider NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which has been in development since 2011. After more than a decade and $23 billion, it completed its first uncrewed flight in 2022. Compare that to SpaceX’s Starship, which, in less than a decade, has iterated through multiple full-scale test flights, each providing real-world data that feeds directly into the next design. Every test uncovers new insights, which are rapidly integrated into future builds.
This isn’t just about speed—it’s about survivability. The propulsion systems of next-generation vehicles demand continuous validation under real-world conditions. The traditional approach—design, build, test, analyze, repeat—creates bottlenecks that slow iteration and introduce risk. Propulsion teams need an agile methodology that ensures engines are continuously refined, validated, and de-risked long before they fly.
Propulsion systems must transition from static, infrequent validation cycles to continuous, software-driven iteration.
Testing Like You Fly: What it Means for Propulsion
In propulsion, “test like you fly” is more than a mantra—it’s an operational necessity. Traditional aerospace development separates ground testing, simulation, and flight testing into disconnected silos, leading to gaps in validation. The result? Engineers operate with incomplete data, leading to unanticipated failures when systems transition from test stands to flight.
By integrating testing and development into a continuous loop, propulsion engineers can:
- Detect anomalies early – Trace irregularities from simulation to engine test to flight data, reducing failure risk.
- Validate real-world performance sooner – Ensure that engine tests reflect operational conditions, improving reliability.
- Accelerate iteration cycles – Reduce the lag between test data collection and engineering decisions.
The real breakthrough is using the same data review tool across all stages: from simulation to hardware testing to live operations.
First- and Second-Order Benefits
The immediate benefits of this methodology are clear:
- Reduced cycle times – Automated data review trims weeks off development.
- More frequent testing – Easier and faster test execution fosters a culture of constant iteration.
- Improved data correlation – Anomalies detected in one test stage inform refinements in another.
The second-order effects are even more significant. When testing is frictionless, engineers conduct it earlier and more often. This leads to better training data for machine learning models, enabling predictive insights rather than reactive fixes. Instead of relying on threshold-based limits, teams can detect subtle performance trends, reducing the risk of catastrophic failures.
Sift continuous delivery
The implications of this shift are profound. It allows companies to iterate and scale quickly without sacrificing safety or reliability. It enables them to tackle more complex challenges, like autonomous systems, with confidence. And perhaps most importantly, it dramatically reduces the risk of catastrophic failures in the field.
But implementing this approach isn't trivial. It requires a fundamental rethinking of development processes and a significant upfront investment in tools and infrastructure.
Testing like you fly turns every propulsion test into an opportunity to refine, improve, and harden engines before they reach the launch pad.
How Sift Enables Continuous Propulsion Testing
Continuous validation at scale requires more than upgraded test facilities—it demands an infrastructure that ensures data is structured, searchable, and actionable across all phases of propulsion development.
Sift’s observability platform powers this transition by:
- Automating anomaly detection – Catching deviations in thrust curves, combustion efficiency, or turbopump performance across thousands of test runs.
- Providing a single source of truth – Unifying simulation, test stand, and flight data in a structured format, reducing the need for redundant analysis.
- Enabling high-frequency, high-cardinality telemetry analysis – Supporting real-time ingestion of engine data, ensuring performance trends are visible in real time.
- Streamlining certification and compliance – Generating structured reports that regulators and internal teams can trust.
Unlike traditional monitoring tools that bolt on analytics after the fact, Sift structures propulsion data at ingestion, making every test run a high-value insight generator. Engineers can overlay performance metrics across multiple test campaigns, compare test stand conditions against flight telemetry, and pinpoint degradation trends before they become mission-critical failures.
More test data doesn’t mean better test data—Sift ensures every propulsion test contributes to mission success.
Infrastructure, Not More Tools, Is the Answer
As propulsion complexity increases, so does the need for scalable, structured validation. Future propulsion systems—whether reusable rocket engines, hypersonic air-breathing vehicles, or sustainable aviation technologies—must iterate with software-like agility.
To achieve this, propulsion companies must eliminate fragmented, one-off testing infrastructures and replace them with scalable, structured observability platforms. Sift enables propulsion teams to:
- Eliminate siloed data – Seamlessly connect test stand, simulation, and in-flight telemetry.
- Scale validation across programs – Standardize data structures across engine variants and test configurations.
- Accelerate anomaly resolution – Reduce downtime and accelerate fixes with automated root-cause analysis.
The propulsion teams that make this shift today won’t just keep pace with change—they’ll define it.
The Future of Propulsion Testing
Propulsion systems are the heart of aerospace innovation, but their development cycles remain stuck in legacy workflows. To build the next generation of engines—whether for deep space exploration, hypersonic flight, or sustainable aviation—companies must embrace a testing paradigm that mirrors software’s rapid iteration model.
Continuous validation isn’t a luxury—it’s a prerequisite for progress. The organizations that integrate test-like-you-fly methodologies into propulsion development today will be the ones powering the next frontier of aerospace.
