The first flight test of the S-engine is to be conducted in 2008 by the balloon-based operation vehicle (BOV) which is about 5 m in length, 0.55 m in diameter and 500 kg in weight. The vehicle is dropped from an altitude of 40 km by a high altitude balloon. After 40-s free-fall, the vehicle pulls up and S-engine operates for 30 s at about Mach 2. High altitude tests of the engine components corresponding to the BOV's flight condition have been conducted.