Rocket engine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is about a type of reaction engine. For rocket-propelled vehicles, see Rocket. For
reaction engines not possessing a de Laval nozzle, see Reaction engine.

RS-68 being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The nearly transparent exhaust is due to this
engine's exhaust being mostly superheated steam (water vapour from its propellants, hydrogen and
oxygen)

Viking 5C rocket engine

A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellant mass for forming its high-speed propulsive jet.
Rocket engines are reaction engines, obtaining thrust in accordance with Newton's third law.
Most rocket engines use combustion, although non-combusting forms (such as cold gas
thrusters) also exist. Vehicles propelled by rocket engines are commonly called rockets. Since
they need no external material to form their jet, rocket engines can perform in a vacuum and thus
can be used to propel spacecraft and ballistic missiles.
 Compared to other types of jet engines, rocket engines are by far the lightest, and have the
highest thrust, but are the least propellant-efficient (they have the lowest specific impulse). The
ideal exhaust is hydrogen, the lightest of all gases, but chemical rockets produce a mix of heavier
species, reducing the exhaust velocity. Rocket engines become more efficient at high velocities,
due to greater propulsive efficiency and the Oberth effect. Since they do not require an
atmosphere, they are well suited for uses at very high altitudes and in space.

Contents

 1Terminology
 2Principle of operation
o 2.1Propellant
o 2.2Injection
o 2.3Combustion chamber
o 2.4Nozzle
 2.4.1Back pressure and optimal expansion
o 2.5Propellant efficiency
o 2.6Thrust vectoring
 3Overall performance
o 3.1Specific impulse
o 3.2Net thrust
o 3.3Vacuum specific impulse, Isp
o 3.4Throttling
o 3.5Energy efficiency
o 3.6Thrust-to-weight ratio
 4Cooling
 5Mechanical issues
 6Acoustic issues
o 6.1Combustion instabilities
 6.1.1Chugging
 6.1.2Buzzing
 6.1.3Screeching
o 6.2Exhaust noise
 7Testing
 8Safety
o 8.1Saturn family (1961–1975)
o 8.2Space Shuttle (1981–2011)
 9Chemistry
 10Ignition
 11Jet physics
 12Types of rocket engines
o 12.1Physically powered
o 12.2Chemically powered
o 12.3Electrically powered
o 12.4Thermal
 12.4.1Preheated
 12.4.2Solar thermal
 12.4.3Beamed thermal
 12.4.4Nuclear thermal
o 12.5Nuclear
 13History of rocket engines
 14See also
 15References
 16External links

Terminology[edit]
Here, "rocket" is used as an abbreviation for "rocket engine".
Thermal rockets use an inert propellant, heated by a power source such as electric or nuclear
power.
Chemical rockets are powered by exothermic chemical reactions of the propellant:

 Solid-fuel rockets (or solid-propellant rockets or motors) are chemical rockets which use
propellant in a solid state.
 Liquid-propellant rockets use one or more liquid propellants fed from tanks.
 Hybrid rockets use a solid propellant in the combustion chamber, to which a second liquid
or gas oxidiser or propellant is added to permit combustion.
 Monopropellant rockets use a single propellant decomposed by a catalyst. The most
common monopropellants are hydrazine and hydrogen peroxide.

Principle of operation[edit]

A simplified diagram of a liquid-fuel rocket.

1. Liquid rocket fuel.
2. Oxidizer.
3. Pumps carry the fuel and oxidizer.
4. The combustion chamber mixes and burns the two liquids.
5. The hot exhaust is choked at the throat, which, among other things, dictates the amount of thrust
produced.
6. Exhaust exits the rocket.
A simplified diagram of a solid-fuel rocket.
1. A solid fuel-oxidizer mixture (propellant) is packed into the rocket, with a cylindrical hole in the middle.
2. An igniter combusts the surface of the propellant.
3. The cylindrical hole in the propellant acts as a combustion chamber.
4. The hot exhaust is choked at the throat, which, among other things, dictates the amount of thrust
produced.
5. Exhaust exits the rocket.

Rocket engines produce thrust by the expulsion of an exhaust fluid which has been accelerated
to a high speed through a propelling nozzle. The fluid is usually a gas created by high pressure
(150-to-2,900-pound-per-square-inch (10 to 200 bar)) combustion of solid or liquid propellants,
consisting of fuel and oxidiser components, within a combustion chamber. The nozzle uses the
heat energy released by expansion of the gas to accelerate the exhaust to very high (supersonic)
speed, and the reaction to this pushes the engine in the opposite direction. Combustion is most
frequently used for practical rockets, as high temperatures and pressures are desirable for the
best performance, permitting a longer nozzle, giving higher exhaust speeds and better
thermodynamic efficiency.
An alternative to combustion is the water rocket, which uses water pressurised by compressed
air, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or manual pumping, for model rocketry.
Propellant[edit]
Rocket propellant is mass that is stored, usually in some form of propellant tank, or within the
combustion chamber itself, prior to being ejected from a rocket engine in the form of a fluid jet to
produce thrust.
Chemical rocket propellants are most commonly used, which undergo exothermic chemical
reactions which produce hot gas which is used by a rocket for propulsive purposes. Alternatively,
a chemically inert reaction mass can be heated using a high-energy power source via a heat
exchanger, and then no combustion chamber is used.
Solid rocket propellants are prepared as a mixture of fuel and oxidising components called 'grain'
and the propellant storage casing effectively becomes the combustion chamber.
Injection[edit]
Liquid-fuelled rockets force separate fuel and oxidiser components into the combustion chamber,
where they mix and burn. Hybrid rocket engines use a combination of solid and liquid or gaseous
propellants. Both liquid and hybrid rockets use injectors to introduce the propellant into the
chamber. These are often an array of simple jets – holes through which the propellant escapes
under pressure; but sometimes may be more complex spray nozzles. When two or more
propellants are injected, the jets usually deliberately cause the propellants to collide as this
breaks up the flow into smaller droplets that burn more easily.
Combustion chamber[edit]
Main article: Combustion chamber
For chemical rockets the combustion chamber is typically just a cylinder, and flame holders are
rarely used.[citation needed] The dimensions of the cylinder are such that the propellant is able to
combust thoroughly; different rocket propellants require different combustion chamber sizes for
this to occur.

This leads to a number called :[citation needed]

where:

 is the volume of the chamber

 is the area of the throat

L* is typically in the range of 25–60 inches (0.64–1.52 m).
The combination of temperatures and pressures typically reached in a combustion chamber
is usually extreme by any standard. Unlike in airbreathing jet engines, no atmospheric
nitrogen is present to dilute and cool the combustion, and the propellant mixture can reach
true stoichiometric ratios. This, in combination with the high pressures, means that the rate of
heat conduction through the walls is very high.[citation needed]
In order for fuel and oxidizer to flow into the chamber, the pressure of the propellant fluids
entering the combustion chamber must exceed the pressure inside the combustion chamber
itself. This may be accomplished by a variety of design approaches including turbopumps or,
in simpler engines, via sufficient tank pressure to advance fluid flow. Tank pressure may be
maintained by several means, including a high-pressure helium pressurization system
common to many large rocket engines or, in some newer rocket systems, by a bleed-off of
high-pressure gas from the engine cycle to autogenously pressurize the propellant
tanks[1][2] For example, the self-pressurization gas system of the BFR is a critical part of
SpaceX strategy to reduce launch vehicle fluids from five in their legacy Falcon 9 vehicle
family to just two in BFR, eliminating not only the helium tank pressurant but all hypergolic
propellants as well as nitrogen for cold-gas reaction-control thrusters.[3]
Nozzle[edit]
Main article: Rocket engine nozzle

Rocket thrust is caused by pressures acting in the combustion chamber and nozzle. From
Newton's third law, equal and opposite pressures act on the exhaust, and this accelerates it to
high speeds.

The hot gas produced in the combustion chamber is permitted to escape through an opening
(the "throat"), and then through a diverging expansion section. When sufficient pressure is
provided to the nozzle (about 2.5-3 times ambient pressure), the nozzle chokes and a
supersonic jet is formed, dramatically accelerating the gas, converting most of the thermal
energy into kinetic energy. Exhaust speeds vary, depending on the expansion ratio the
nozzle is designed for, but exhaust speeds as high as ten times the speed of sound in air at
sea level are not uncommon. About half of the rocket engine's thrust comes from the
unbalanced pressures inside the combustion chamber, and the rest comes from the
pressures acting against the inside of the nozzle (see diagram). As the gas expands
(adiabatically) the pressure against the nozzle's walls forces the rocket engine in one
direction while accelerating the gas in the other.

The four expansion regimes of a de Laval nozzle:

• under-expanded
• perfectly expanded
• over-expanded
• grossly over-expanded

The most commonly used nozzle is the de Laval nozzle, a fixed geometry nozzle with a high
expansion-ratio. The large bell- or cone-shaped nozzle extension beyond the throat gives the
rocket engine its characteristic shape.
The exit static pressure of the exhaust jet depends on the chamber pressure and the ratio of
exit to throat area of the nozzle. As exit pressure varies from the ambient (atmospheric)
pressure, a choked nozzle is said to be

 under-expanded (exit pressure greater than ambient),

 perfectly expanded (exit pressure equals ambient),
 over-expanded (exit pressure less than ambient; shock diamonds form outside the
nozzle), or
 grossly over-expanded (a shock wave forms inside the nozzle extension).
In practice, perfect expansion is only achievable with a variable-exit area nozzle (since
ambient pressure decreases as altitude increases), and is not possible above a certain
altitude as ambient pressure approaches zero. If the nozzle is not perfectly expanded, then
loss of efficiency occurs. Grossly over-expanded nozzles lose less efficiency, but can cause
mechanical problems with the nozzle. Fixed-area nozzles become progressively more under-
expanded as they gain altitude. Almost all de Laval nozzles will be momentarily grossly over-
expanded during startup in an atmosphere.[4]
Nozzle efficiency is affected by operation in the atmosphere because atmospheric pressure
changes with altitude; but due to the supersonic speeds of the gas exiting from a rocket
engine, the pressure of the jet may be either below or above ambient, and equilibrium
between the two is not reached at all altitudes (see diagram).
Back pressure and optimal expansion[edit]
For optimal performance, the pressure of the gas at the end of the nozzle should just equal
the ambient pressure: if the exhaust's pressure is lower than the ambient pressure, then the
vehicle will be slowed by the difference in pressure between the top of the engine and the
exit; on the other hand, if the exhaust's pressure is higher, then exhaust pressure that could
have been converted into thrust is not converted, and energy is wasted.
To maintain this ideal of equality between the exhaust's exit pressure and the ambient
pressure, the diameter of the nozzle would need to increase with altitude, giving the pressure
a longer nozzle to act on (and reducing the exit pressure and temperature). This increase is
difficult to arrange in a lightweight fashion, although is routinely done with other forms of jet
engines. In rocketry a lightweight compromise nozzle is generally used and some reduction
in atmospheric performance occurs when used at other than the 'design altitude' or when
throttled. To improve on this, various exotic nozzle designs such as the plug nozzle, stepped
nozzles, the expanding nozzle and the aerospike have been proposed, each providing some
way to adapt to changing ambient air pressure and each allowing the gas to expand further
against the nozzle, giving extra thrust at higher altitudes.
When exhausting into a sufficiently low ambient pressure (vacuum) several issues arise. One
is the sheer weight of the nozzle—beyond a certain point, for a particular vehicle, the extra
weight of the nozzle outweighs any performance gained. Secondly, as the exhaust gases
adiabatically expand within the nozzle they cool, and eventually some of the chemicals can
freeze, producing 'snow' within the jet. This causes instabilities in the jet and must be
avoided.
On a de Laval nozzle, exhaust gas flow detachment will occur in a grossly over-expanded
nozzle. As the detachment point will not be uniform around the axis of the engine, a side
force may be imparted to the engine. This side force may change over time and result in
control problems with the launch vehicle.
Advanced altitude-compensating designs, such as the aerospike or plug nozzle, attempt to
minimize performance losses by adjusting to varying expansion ratio caused by changing
altitude.
Propellant efficiency[edit]
See also: Specific impulse

Typical temperature (T), pressure (p), and velocity (v) profiles in a de Laval Nozzle

For a rocket engine to be propellant efficient, it is important that the maximum pressures
possible be created on the walls of the chamber and nozzle by a specific amount of
propellant; as this is the source of the thrust. This can be achieved by all of:
 heating the propellant to as high a temperature as possible (using a high energy fuel,
containing hydrogen and carbon and sometimes metals such as aluminium, or even
using nuclear energy)
 using a low specific density gas (as hydrogen rich as possible)
 using propellants which are, or decompose to, simple molecules with few degrees of
freedom to maximise translational velocity
Since all of these things minimise the mass of the propellant used, and since pressure is
proportional to the mass of propellant present to be accelerated as it pushes on the engine,
and since from Newton's third law the pressure that acts on the engine also reciprocally acts
on the propellant, it turns out that for any given engine, the speed that the propellant leaves
the chamber is unaffected by the chamber pressure (although the thrust is proportional).
However, speed is significantly affected by all three of the above factors and the exhaust
speed is an excellent measure of the engine propellant efficiency. This is termed exhaust
velocity, and after allowance is made for factors that can reduce it, the effective exhaust
velocity is one of the most important parameters of a rocket engine (although weight, cost,
ease of manufacture etc. are usually also very important).
For aerodynamic reasons the flow goes sonic ("chokes") at the narrowest part of the nozzle,
the 'throat'. Since the speed of sound in gases increases with the square root of temperature,
the use of hot exhaust gas greatly improves performance. By comparison, at room
temperature the speed of sound in air is about 340 m/s while the speed of sound in the hot
gas of a rocket engine can be over 1700 m/s; much of this performance is due to the higher
temperature, but additionally rocket propellants are chosen to be of low molecular mass, and
this also gives a higher velocity compared to air.
Expansion in the rocket nozzle then further multiplies the speed, typically between 1.5 and 2
times, giving a highly collimated hypersonic exhaust jet. The speed increase of a rocket
nozzle is mostly determined by its area expansion ratio—the ratio of the area of the throat to
the area at the exit, but detailed properties of the gas are also important. Larger ratio nozzles
are more massive but are able to extract more heat from the combustion gases, increasing
the exhaust velocity.
Thrust vectoring[edit]
Main article: Thrust vectoring
Vehicles typically require the overall thrust to change direction over the length of the burn. A
number of different ways to achieve this have been flown:

 The entire engine is mounted on a hinge or gimbal and any propellant feeds reach the
engine via low pressure flexible pipes or rotary couplings.
 Just the combustion chamber and nozzle is gimballed, the pumps are fixed, and high
pressure feeds attach to the engine.
 Multiple engines (often canted at slight angles) are deployed but throttled to give the
overall vector that is required, giving only a very small penalty.
 High-temperature vanes protrude into the exhaust and can be tilted to deflect the jet.

Overall performance[edit]
Rocket technology can combine very high thrust (meganewtons), very high exhaust speeds
(around 10 times the speed of sound in air at sea level) and very high thrust/weight ratios
(>100) simultaneously as well as being able to operate outside the atmosphere, and while
permitting the use of low pressure and hence lightweight tanks and structure.
Rockets can be further optimised to even more extreme performance along one or more of
these axes at the expense of the others.
Specific impulse[edit]
 Isp in vacuum of various rockets

Rocket Propellants Isp, vacuum (s)

Space shuttle
LOX/LH2 453[5]
liquid engines

Space shuttle
APCP 268[5]
solid motors

Space shuttle
NTO/MMH 313[5]
OMS

Saturn V
LOX/RP-1 304[5]
stage 1

Main article: Specific impulse

The most important metric for the efficiency of a rocket engine is impulse per unit

of propellant, this is called specific impulse(usually written ). This is either measured as

a speed (the effective exhaust velocity in metres/second or ft/s) or as a time (seconds).

An engine that gives a large specific impulse is normally highly desirable.
The specific impulse that can be achieved is primarily a function of the propellant mix (and
ultimately would limit the specific impulse), but practical limits on chamber pressures and the
nozzle expansion ratios reduce the performance that can be achieved.
Net thrust[edit]
Main article: Thrust
Below is an approximate equation for calculating the net thrust of a rocket engine:[6]

where:

= exhaust gas mass flow

= effective exhaust velocity

= effective jet velocity when Pa = Pe

= flow area at nozzle exit plane (or the plane where the jet leaves the nozzle if separated
flow)

= static pressure at nozzle exit plane

 = ambient (or atmospheric) pressure

Since, unlike a jet engine, a conventional rocket motor lacks an air intake, there is no
'ram drag' to deduct from the gross thrust. Consequently, the net thrust of a rocket
motor is equal to the gross thrust (apart from static back pressure).

The term represents the momentum thrust, which remains constant at a given

throttle setting, whereas the term represents the pressure thrust term. At full
throttle, the net thrust of a rocket motor improves slightly with increasing altitude,
because as atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, the pressure thrust term
increases. At the surface of the Earth the pressure thrust may be reduced by up to
30%,depending on the engine design. This reduction drops roughly exponentially to
zero with increasing altitude.
Maximum efficiency for a rocket engine is achieved by maximising the momentum
contribution of the equation without incurring penalties from over expanding the

exhaust. This occurs when . Since ambient pressure changes with altitude,
most rocket engines spend very little time operating at peak efficiency.
Vacuum specific impulse, Isp[edit]
Due to the specific impulse varying with pressure, a quantity that is easy to compare
and calculate with is useful. Because rockets choke at the throat, and because the
supersonic exhaust prevents external pressure influences travelling upstream, it
turns out that the pressure at the exit is ideally exactly proportional to the propellant

flow , provided the mixture ratios and combustion efficiencies are maintained. It
is thus quite usual to rearrange the above equation slightly:[7]

and so define the vacuum Isp to be:

where:

 =  the speed of sound constant at the throat

 =  the thrust coefficient constant of the nozzle (typically about 2)

And hence:

Throttling[edit]
Rockets can be throttled by controlling the propellant

combustion rate (usually measured in kg/s or lb/s). In

liquid and hybrid rockets, the propellant flow entering the
chamber is controlled using valves, in solid rockets it is
controlled by changing the area of propellant that is burning and
this can be designed into the propellant grain (and hence
cannot be controlled in real-time).
Rockets can usually be throttled down to an exit pressure of
about one-third of ambient pressure[8] (often limited by flow
separation in nozzles) and up to a maximum limit determined
only by the mechanical strength of the engine.
In practice, the degree to which rockets can be throttled varies
greatly, but most rockets can be throttled by a factor of 2
without great difficulty;[8] the typical limitation is combustion
stability, as for example, injectors need a minimum pressure to
avoid triggering damaging oscillations (chugging or combustion
instabilities); but injectors can be optimised and tested for wider
ranges. For example, some more recent liquid-propellant
engine designs that have been optimised for greater throttling
capability (BE-3, Raptor) can be throttled to as low as 18–20
percent of rated thrust.[9][2] Solid rockets can be throttled by
using shaped grains that will vary their surface area over the
course of the burn.[8]
Energy efficiency[edit]
Further information: Rocket § Energy efficiency

Rocket vehicle mechanical efficiency as a function of vehicle

instantaneous speed divided by effective exhaust speed. These
percentages need to be multiplied by internal engine efficiency to
get overall efficiency.

Rocket engine nozzles are surprisingly efficient heat engines for

generating a high speed jet, as a consequence of the high
combustion temperature and high compression ratio. Rocket
nozzles give an excellent approximation to adiabatic
expansion which is a reversible process, and hence they give
efficiencies which are very close to that of the Carnot cycle.
Given the temperatures reached, over 60% efficiency can be
achieved with chemical rockets.
For a vehicle employing a rocket engine the energetic efficiency
is very good if the vehicle speed approaches or somewhat
exceeds the exhaust velocity (relative to launch); but at low
speeds the energy efficiency goes to 0% at zero speed (as with
all jet propulsion.) See Rocket energy efficiency for more
details.
Thrust-to-weight ratio[edit]
Main article: thrust-to-weight ratio
Rockets, of all the jet engines, indeed of essentially all engines,
have the highest thrust to weight ratio. This is especially true for
liquid rocket engines.
This high performance is due to the small volume of pressure
vessels that make up the engine—the pumps, pipes and
combustion chambers involved. The lack of inlet duct and the
use of dense liquid propellant allows the pressurisation system
to be small and lightweight, whereas duct engines have to deal
with air which has a density about one thousand times lower.

Mass Thrust (vacuum)

Thrust
Jet or rocke -to-
t engine weight
(kg (kN ratio
(lb) (lbf)
) )

RD-
0410 nuclear
2,000 4,400 35.2 7,900 1.8
rocket
engine[10][11]

J58 jet engine

(SR-71 2,722 6,001 150 34,000 5.2
Blackbird)[12][13]

Rolls-
Royce/Snecma
Olympus 593
3,175 7,000 169.2 38,000 5.4
turbojet with
reheat
(Concorde)[14]

Pratt &
Whitney 1,800 3,900 91 20,500 7.95
F119[15]

RD-
0750 rocket
10,18
engine, three- 4,621 1,413 318,000 31.2
8
propellant
mode[16]
 Mass Thrust (vacuum)
Thrust
Jet or rocke -to-
t engine weight
(kg (kN ratio
(lb) (lbf)
) )

RD-
0146 rocket 260 570 98 22,000 38.4
engine[17]

Rocketdyne
RS-25 Space
3,177 7,004 2,278 512,000 73.1
Shuttle Main
Engine[18]

RD-180 rocket 11,89

5,393 4,152 933,000 78.5
engine[19] 0

RD-170 rocket 21,50 1,773,00

9,750 7,887 82.5
engine 0 0

F-1 (Saturn 18,49 7,740. 1,740,10

8,391 94.1
V first stage)[20] 9 5 0

NK-33 rocket
1,222 2,694 1,638 368,000 136.7
engine[21]

Merlin
1D rocket
engine, full- 467 1,030 825 185,000 180.1
thrust
version [22]

Of the liquid propellants used, density is worst for liquid

hydrogen. Although this propellant is marvellous in many ways,
it has a very low density, about one fourteenth that of water.
This makes the turbopumps and pipework larger and heavier,
and this is reflected in the thrust-to-weight ratio of engines that
use it (for example the SSME) compared to those that do not
(NK-33).

Cooling[edit]
For efficiency reasons, and because they physically can,
rockets run with combustion temperatures that can reach
~3,500 K (~3,200 °C or ~5,800 °F).
Most other jet engines have gas turbines in the hot exhaust.
Due to their larger surface area, they are harder to cool and
hence there is a need to run the combustion processes at much
lower temperatures, losing efficiency. In addition, duct
engines use air as an oxidant, which contains 78% largely
unreactive nitrogen, which dilutes the reaction and lowers the
temperatures.[8] Rockets have none of these inherent
disadvantages.
Therefore, temperatures used in rockets are very often far
higher than the melting point of the nozzle and combustion
chamber materials (~1,200 K for copper). Two exceptions
are graphite and tungsten, although both are subject to
oxidation if not protected. Indeed, many construction materials
can make perfectly acceptable propellants in their own right. It
is important that these materials be prevented from combusting,
melting or vaporising to the point of failure. This is sometimes
somewhat facetiously termed an "engine-rich exhaust".
Materials technology could potentially place an upper limit on
the exhaust temperature of chemical rockets.
Alternatively, rockets may use more common construction
materials such as aluminium, steel, nickel or copper alloys and
employ cooling systems that prevent the construction material
itself becoming too hot. Regenerative cooling, where the
propellant is passed through tubes around the combustion
chamber or nozzle, and other techniques, such as curtain
cooling or film cooling, are employed to give longer nozzle and
chamber life. These techniques ensure that a gaseous
thermal boundary layer touching the material is kept below the
temperature which would cause the material to catastrophically
fail.
In rockets, the heat fluxes that can pass through the wall are
among the highest in engineering; fluxes are generally in the
range of 1-200 MW/m2. The strongest heat fluxes are found at
the throat, which often sees twice that found in the associated
chamber and nozzle. This is due to the combination of high
speeds (which gives a very thin boundary layer), and although
lower than the chamber, the high temperatures seen there.
(See rocket nozzles above for temperatures in nozzle).
In rockets the coolant methods include:

1. uncooled (used for short runs mainly during testing)

2. ablative walls (walls are lined with a material that is
continuously vaporised and carried away).
3. radiative cooling (the chamber becomes almost white
hot and radiates the heat away)
4. dump cooling (a propellant, usually hydrogen, is passed
around the chamber and dumped)
5. regenerative cooling (liquid rockets use the fuel, or
occasionally the oxidiser, to cool the chamber via a
cooling jacket before being injected)
 6. curtain cooling (propellant injection is arranged so the
temperature of the gases is cooler at the walls)
7. film cooling (surfaces are wetted with liquid propellant,
which cools as it evaporates)
In all cases the cooling effect that prevents the wall from being
destroyed is caused by a thin layer of insulating fluid
(a boundary layer) that is in contact with the walls that is far
cooler than the combustion temperature. Provided this
boundary layer is intact the wall will not be damaged.
Disruption of the boundary layer may occur during cooling
failures or combustion instabilities, and wall failure typically
occurs soon after.
With regenerative cooling a second boundary layer is found in
the coolant channels around the chamber. This boundary layer
thickness needs to be as small as possible, since the boundary
layer acts as an insulator between the wall and the coolant. This
may be achieved by making the coolant velocity in the channels
as high as possible.
In practice, regenerative cooling is nearly always used in
conjunction with curtain cooling and/or film cooling.
Liquid-fuelled engines are often run fuel-rich, which lowers
combustion temperatures. This reduces heat loads on the
engine and allows lower cost materials and a simplified cooling
system. This can also increase performance by lowering the
average molecular weight of the exhaust and increasing the
efficiency with which combustion heat is converted to kinetic
exhaust energy.

Mechanical issues[edit]
Rocket combustion chambers are normally operated at fairly
high pressure, typically 10–200 bar (1–20 MPa, 150–3,000 psi).
When operated within significant atmospheric pressure, higher
combustion chamber pressures give better performance by
permitting a larger and more efficient nozzle to be fitted without
it being grossly overexpanded.
However, these high pressures cause the outermost part of the
chamber to be under very large hoop stresses – rocket engines
are pressure vessels.
Worse, due to the high temperatures created in rocket engines
the materials used tend to have a significantly lowered working
tensile strength.
In addition, significant temperature gradients are set up in the
walls of the chamber and nozzle, these cause differential
expansion of the inner liner that create internal stresses.

Acoustic issues[edit]
The extreme vibration and acoustic environment inside a rocket
motor commonly result in peak stresses well above mean
values, especially in the presence of organ pipe-like resonances
and gas turbulence.[23]
Combustion instabilities[edit]
The combustion may display undesired instabilities, of sudden
or periodic nature. The pressure in the injection chamber may
increase until the propellant flow through the injector plate
decreases; a moment later the pressure drops and the flow
increases, injecting more propellant in the combustion chamber
which burns a moment later, and again increases the chamber
pressure, repeating the cycle. This may lead to high-amplitude
pressure oscillations, often in ultrasonic range, which may
damage the motor. Oscillations of ±200 psi at 25 kHz were the
cause of failures of early versions of the Titan II missile second
stage engines. The other failure mode is a deflagration to
detonation transition; the supersonic pressure wave formed in
the combustion chamber may destroy the engine.[24]
Combustion instability was also a problem
during Atlas development. The Rocketdyne engines used in the
Atlas family were found to suffer from this effect in several static
firing tests, and three missile launches exploded on the pad due
to rough combustion in the booster engines. In most cases, it
occurred while attempting to start the engines with a "dry start"
method whereby the igniter mechanism would be activated prior
to propellant injection. During the process of man-rating Atlas
for Project Mercury, solving combustion instability was a high
priority, and the final two Mercury flights sported an upgraded
propulsion system with baffled injectors and a hypergolic igniter.
The problem affecting Atlas vehicles was mainly the so-called
"racetrack" phenomenon, where burning propellant would swirl
around in a circle at faster and faster speeds, eventually
producing vibration strong enough to rupture the engine,
leading to complete destruction of the rocket. It was eventually
solved by adding several baffles around the injector face to
break up swirling propellant.
More significantly, combustion instability was a problem with the
Saturn F-1 engines. Some of the early units tested exploded
during static firing, which led to the addition of injector baffles.
In the Soviet space program, combustion instability also proved
a problem on some rocket engines, including the RD-107
engine used in the R-7 family and the RD-216 used in the R-14
family, and several failures of these vehicles occurred before
the problem was solved. Soviet engineering and manufacturing
processes never satisfactorily resolved combustion instability in
larger RP-1/LOX engines, so the RD-171 engine used to power
the Zenit family still used four smaller thrust chambers fed by a
common engine mechanism.
The combustion instabilities can be provoked by remains of
cleaning solvents in the engine (e.g. the first attempted launch
of a Titan II in 1962), reflected shock wave, initial instability after
ignition, explosion near the nozzle that reflects into the
combustion chamber, and many more factors. In stable engine
designs the oscillations are quickly suppressed; in unstable
designs they persist for prolonged periods. Oscillation
suppressors are commonly used.
Periodic variations of thrust, caused by combustion instability or
longitudinal vibrations of structures between the tanks and the
engines which modulate the propellant flow, are known as
"pogo oscillations" or "pogo", named after the pogo stick.
Three different types of combustion instabilities occur:
Chugging[edit]
This is a low frequency oscillation at a few Hertz in chamber
pressure usually caused by pressure variations in feed lines
due to variations in acceleration of the vehicle.[25]:261 This can
cause cyclic variation in thrust, and the effects can vary from
merely annoying to actually damaging the payload or vehicle.
Chugging can be minimised by using gas-filled damping tubes
on feed lines of high density propellants.[citation needed]
Buzzing[edit]
This can be caused due to insufficient pressure drop across the
injectors.[25]:261 It generally is mostly annoying, rather than being
damaging. However, in extreme cases combustion can end up
being forced backwards through the injectors – this can cause
explosions with monopropellants.[citation needed]
Screeching[edit]
This is the most immediately damaging, and the hardest to
control. It is due to acoustics within the combustion chamber
that often couples to the chemical combustion processes that
are the primary drivers of the energy release, and can lead to
unstable resonant "screeching" that commonly leads to
catastrophic failure due to thinning of the insulating thermal
boundary layer. Acoustic oscillations can be excited by thermal
processes, such as the flow of hot air through a pipe or
combustion in a chamber. Specifically, standing acoustic waves
inside a chamber can be intensified if combustion occurs more
intensely in regions where the pressure of the acoustic wave is
maximal.[26][27][28][25] Such effects are very difficult to predict
analytically during the design process, and have usually been
addressed by expensive, time consuming and extensive testing,
combined with trial and error remedial correction measures.
Screeching is often dealt with by detailed changes to injectors,
or changes in the propellant chemistry, or vaporising the
propellant before injection, or use of Helmholtz damperswithin
the combustion chambers to change the resonant modes of the
chamber.[citation needed]
Testing for the possibility of screeching is sometimes done by
exploding small explosive charges outside the combustion
chamber with a tube set tangentially to the combustion chamber
near the injectors to determine the engine's impulse
response and then evaluating the time response of the chamber
pressure- a fast recovery indicates a stable system.
Exhaust noise[edit]
Main article: acoustic signature
For all but the very smallest sizes, rocket exhaust compared to
other engines is generally very noisy. As
the hypersonic exhaust mixes with the ambient air, shock
waves are formed. The Space Shuttle generates over
200 dB(A) of noise around its base. To reduce this, and the risk
of payload damage or injury to the crew atop the stack,
the Mobile Launcher Platform was fitted with a Sound
Suppression System that sprayed 1,100,000 litres of water
around the base of the rocket in 41 seconds at launch time.
Using this system kept sound levels within the payload bay to
142 dB [29]
The sound intensity from the shock waves generated depends
on the size of the rocket and on the exhaust velocity. Such
shock waves seem to account for the characteristic crackling
and popping sounds produced by large rocket engines when
heard live. These noise peaks typically overload microphones
and audio electronics, and so are generally weakened or
entirely absent in recorded or broadcast audio reproductions.
For large rockets at close range, the acoustic effects could
actually kill.[30]
More worryingly for space agencies, such sound levels can also
damage the launch structure, or worse, be reflected back at the
comparatively delicate rocket above. This is why so much water
is typically used at launches. The water spray changes the
acoustic qualities of the air and reduces or deflects the sound
energy away from the rocket.
Generally speaking, noise is most intense when a rocket is
close to the ground, since the noise from the engines radiates
up away from the jet, as well as reflecting off the ground. Also,
when the vehicle is moving slowly, little of the chemical energy
input to the engine can go into increasing the kinetic energy of
the rocket (since useful power P transmitted to the vehicle

is for thrust F and speed V). Then the largest portion of

the energy is dissipated in the exhaust's interaction with the
ambient air, producing noise. This noise can be reduced
somewhat by flame trenches with roofs, by water injection
around the jet and by deflecting the jet at an angle.

Testing[edit]
Rocket engines are usually statically tested at a test
facility before being put into production. For high altitude
engines, either a shorter nozzle must be used, or the rocket
must be tested in a large vacuum chamber.

Safety[edit]
Rocket vehicles have a reputation for unreliability and danger;
especially catastrophic failures. Contrary to this reputation,
carefully designed rockets can be made arbitrarily reliable.[citation
needed]
In military use, rockets are not unreliable. However, one of
the main non-military uses of rockets is for orbital launch. In this
application, the premium has typically been placed on minimum
weight, and it is difficult to achieve high reliability and low weight
simultaneously. In addition, if the number of flights launched is
low, there is a very high chance of a design, operations or
manufacturing error causing destruction of the vehicle.[citation needed]
Saturn family (1961–1975)[edit]
The Rocketdyne H-1 engine, used in a cluster of eight in the
first stage of the Saturn I and Saturn IB launch vehicles, had no
catastrophic failures in 152 engine-flights. The Pratt and
Whitney RL10 engine, used in a cluster of six in the Saturn I
second stage, had no catastrophic failures in 36 engine-flights.
The Rocketdyne F-1 engine, used in a cluster of five in the first
stage of the Saturn V, had no failures in 65 engine-flights.
The Rocketdyne J-2 engine, used in a cluster of five in the
Saturn V second stage, and singly in the Saturn IB second
stage and Saturn V third stage, had no catastrophic failures in
86 engine-flights.[31]
Space Shuttle (1981–2011)[edit]
The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster, used in pairs,
caused one notable catastrophic failure in 270 engine-flights.
The Space Shuttle Main Engine, used in a cluster of three, flew
in 46 refurbished engine units. These made a total of 405
engine-flights with no catastrophic in-flight failures. A single in-
flight SSME failure occurred during Space
Shuttle Challenger's STS-51-F mission.[32] This failure had no
effect on mission objectives or duration.[33]

Chemistry[edit]
Rocket propellants require a high specific energy (energy per
unit mass), because ideally all the reaction energy appears as
kinetic energy of the exhaust gases, and exhaust velocity is the
single most important performance parameter of an engine, on
which vehicle performance depends.
Aside from inevitable losses and imperfections in the engine,
incomplete combustion, etc., after specific reaction energy, the
main theoretical limit reducing the exhaust velocity obtained is
that, according to the laws of thermodynamics, a fraction of the
chemical energy may go into rotation of the exhaust molecules,
where it is unavailable for producing thrust. Monatomic gases
like helium have only three degrees of freedom, corresponding
to the three dimensions of space, {x,y,z}, and only such
spherically symmetric molecules escape this kind of loss. A
diatomic molecule like H2 can rotate about either of the two
axes perpendicular to the one joining the two atoms, and as
the equipartition law of statistical mechanics demands that the
available thermal energy be divided equally among the degrees
of freedom, for such a gas in thermal equilibrium 3/5 of the
energy can go into unidirectional motion, and 2/5 into rotation
(actually, the vibration of the molecule should not be neglected,
see gas heat capacity). A triatomic molecule like water has six
degrees of freedom, so the energy is divided equally among
rotational and translational degrees of freedom. For most
chemical reactions the latter situation is the case. This issue is
traditionally described in terms of the ratio, gamma, of the
specific heat of the gas at constant volume to that at constant
pressure. The rotational energy loss is largely recovered in
practice if the expansion nozzle is large enough to allow the
gases to expand and cool sufficiently, the function of the nozzle
being to convert the random thermal motions of the molecules
in the combustion chamber into the unidirectional translation
that produces thrust. As long as the exhaust gas remains in
equilibrium as it expands, the initial rotational energy will be
largely returned to translation in the nozzle.
Although the specific reaction energy per unit mass of reactants
is key, low mean molecular weight in the reaction products is
also important in practice in determining exhaust velocity. This
is because the high gas temperatures in rocket engines pose
serious problems for the engineering of survivable motors.
Because temperature is proportional to the mean energy per
molecule, a given amount of energy distributed among more
molecules of lower mass permits a higher exhaust velocity at a
given temperature. This means low atomic mass elements are
favoured. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) and oxygen (LOX, or LO2), are
the most effective propellants in terms of exhaust velocity that
have been widely used to date, though a few exotic
combinations involving boron or liquid ozone are potentially
somewhat better in theory if various practical problems could be
solved.[34]
It is important to note in computing the specific reaction energy,
that the entire mass of the propellants, including both fuel and
oxidiser, must be included. The fact that air-breathing engines
are typically able to obtain oxygen "for free" without having to
carry it along, accounts for one factor of why air-breathing
engines are very much more propellant-mass efficient, and one
reason that rocket engines are far less suitable for most
ordinary terrestrial applications. Fuels for car or turbojet
engines, use atmospheric oxygen and so have a much better
effective energy output per unit mass of propellant that must be
carried, but are similar per unit mass of fuel.
Computer programs that predict the performance of propellants
in rocket engines are available.[35][36][37]

Ignition[edit]
Further information: Combustion
With liquid and hybrid rockets, immediate ignition of the
propellant(s) as they first enter the combustion chamber is
essential.
With liquid propellants (but not gaseous), failure to ignite within
milliseconds usually causes too much liquid propellant to be
inside the chamber, and if/when ignition occurs the amount of
hot gas created can exceed the maximum design pressure of
the chamber, causing a catastrophic failure of the pressure
vessel. This is sometimes called a hard start or a rapid
unscheduled disassembly (RUD).[38]
Ignition can be achieved by a number of different methods; a
pyrotechnic charge can be used, a plasma torch can be
used,[citation needed] or electric spark ignition[3] may be employed.
Some fuel/oxidiser combinations ignite on contact (hypergolic),
and non-hypergolic fuels can be "chemically ignited" by priming
the fuel lines with hypergolic propellants (popular in Russian
engines).
Gaseous propellants generally will not cause hard starts, with
rockets the total injector area is less than the throat thus the
chamber pressure tends to ambient prior to ignition and high
pressures cannot form even if the entire chamber is full of
flammable gas at ignition.
Solid propellants are usually ignited with one-shot pyrotechnic
devices.[8]
Once ignited, rocket chambers are self-sustaining and igniters
are not needed. Indeed, chambers often spontaneously reignite
if they are restarted after being shut down for a few seconds.
However, when cooled, many rockets cannot be restarted
without at least minor maintenance, such as replacement of the
pyrotechnic igniter.[8]

Jet physics[edit]

Armadillo aerospace's quad vehicle showing visible banding

(shock diamonds) in the exhaust jet

Rocket jets vary depending on the rocket engine, design

altitude, altitude, thrust and other factors.
Carbon rich exhausts from kerosene fuels are often orange in
colour due to the black-body radiation of the unburnt particles,
in addition to the blue Swan bands. Peroxide oxidizer-based
rockets and hydrogen rocket jets contain largely steam and are
nearly invisible to the naked eye but shine brightly in
the ultraviolet and infrared. Jets from solid rockets can be highly
visible as the propellant frequently contains metals such as
elemental aluminium which burns with an orange-white flame
and adds energy to the combustion process.
Some exhausts, notably alcohol fuelled rockets, can show
visible shock diamonds. These are due to cyclic variations in
the jet pressure relative to ambient creating shock waves that
form 'Mach disks'.
The shape of the jet varies by the design altitude: at high
altitude all rockets are grossly under-expanded, and a quite
small percentage of exhaust gases actually end up expanding
forwards.

Types of rocket engines[edit]

Physically powered[edit]

Type Description Advantages Disadvantages

 Partially filled Altitude typically
pressurised limited to a few
Water carbonated Very simple to hundred feet or so
rocket drinks container build (world record is 623
with tail and meters, or 2,044
nose weighting feet)

A non-
combusting Non-
Cold gas Extremely low
form, used contaminating
thruster performance
for vernier exhaust
thrusters

Chemically powered[edit]
See also: Liquid rocket propellant and solid-fuel rocket

Descripti Advantag
Type Disadvantages
on es

Simple, Throttling, burn

often termination, and
Ignitable,
no moving reignition require
self-
parts, special designs.
sustaining
reasonably Handling issues from
solid
good mass ignitable mixture.
fuel/oxidi
fraction, Lower performance
ser
Solid rocket reasonable than liquid rockets. If
mixture
Isp. A grain cracks it can
("grain")
thrust block nozzle with
with
schedule disastrous results.
central
can be Grain cracks burn and
hole and
designed widen during burn.
nozzle
into the Refueling harder than
grain. simply filling tanks.

Quite
Separate
simple, Some oxidisers are
oxidiser/f
solid fuel monopropellants, can
uel;
is explode in own right;
typically
essentially mechanical failure of
the
inert solid propellant can
oxidiser
Hybrid rocket without block nozzle (very
is liquid
oxidiser, rare with rubberised
and kept
safer; propellant), central
in a tank
cracks do hole widens over
and the
not burn and negatively
fuel is
escalate, affects mixture ratio.
solid.
throttleabl
e and easy
 to switch
off.

Propellant
(such as
hydrazine
,
hydrogen
peroxide
or nitrous Simple in Catalysts can be
oxide) concept, easily contaminated,
flows throttleabl monopropellants can
Monopropellant over a e, low detonate if
rocket catalyst temperatur contaminated or
and es in provoked, Isp is
exothermi combustio perhaps 1/3 of best
cally n chamber liquids
decompos
es; hot
gases are
emitted
through
nozzle.

Up to
~99%
efficient
combustio
Two fluid n with
(typically excellent
Pumps needed for
liquid) mixture
high performance are
propellant control,
expensive to design,
s are throttleabl
huge thermal fluxes
introduce e, can be
Bipropellant across combustion
d through used with
rocket chamber wall can
injectors turbopump
impact reuse, failure
into s which
modes include major
combusti permits
explosions, a lot of
on incredibly
plumbing is needed.
chamber lightweigh
and burnt t tanks,
can be safe
with
extreme
care

Rocket
Dual mode takes off Simplicity
Lower performance
propulsion as a and ease of
than bipropellants
rocket bipropella control
nt rocket,
then turns
 to using
just one
propellant
as a
monoprop
ellant

Three
different
propellant
s (usually
hydrogen,
Reduces
hydrocarb
take-off
on, and
weight,
liquid
since
oxygen)
hydrogen
are
is lighter;
introduce
combines
d into a
good
combusti Similar issues to
thrust to
on bipropellant, but with
Tripropellant weight
chamber more plumbing, more
rocket with high
in research and
average Isp,
variable development
improves
mixture
payload
ratios, or
for
multiple
launching
engines
from Earth
are used
by a
with fixed
sizeable
propellant
percentage
mixture
ratios and
throttled
or shut
down

Essentiall
Similar efficiency to
y a ramjet Mach 0 to
rockets at low speed
where Mach 4.5+
or exoatmospheric,
intake air (can also
inlet difficulties, a
is run
relatively
Air-augmented compress exoatmosp
undeveloped and
rocket ed and heric),
unexplored type,
burnt good
cooling difficulties,
with the efficiency
very noisy,
exhaust at Mach 2
thrust/weight ratio is
from a to 4
similar to ramjets.
rocket

Turborocket A Very close Atmospheric airspeed

combined to existing limited to same range
 cycle designs, as turbojet engine,
turbojet/r operates in carrying oxidiser
ocket very high like LOX can be
where an altitude, dangerous. Much
additional wide range heavier than simple
oxidiser of altitude rockets.
such as and
oxygen is airspeed
added to
the
airstream
to
increase
maximum
altitude

Easily
tested on
ground.
High
thrust/weig
ht ratios
Intake air are
is chilled possible
to very (~14)
low together
temperatu with good
res at fuel
inlet efficiency
before over a
Exists only at the lab
Precooled jet passing wide range
prototyping stage.
engine / LACE( through a of
Examples
combined cycle ramjet or airspeeds,
include RB545, SAB
with rocket) turbojet mach 0-
RE, ATREX
engine. 5.5+; this
Can be combinatio
combined n of
with a efficiencie
rocket s may
engine for permit
orbital launching
insertion. to orbit,
single
stage, or
very rapid
intercontin
ental
travel.

Electrically powered[edit]

Disadvantage
Type Description Advantages
s
 Energy is
imparted to a
Efficient
usually inert
where
fluid serving
electrical
as reaction Requires a lot
power is at a
mass via Joule of power,
Resistojet lower
heating of a hence
rocket(electric premium than
heating typically
heating) mass.
element. May yields low
Higher Isp than
also be used to thrust.
monopropellan
impart extra
t alone, about
energy to a
40% higher.
monopropella
nt.

Identical to
resistojet
except the
heating
Arcjet Very low
element is
rocket(chemica thrust and
replaced with
l burning 1,600 high power,
an electrical
aided by seconds Isp performance is
arc,
electrical similar to ion
eliminating
discharge) drive.
the physical
requirements
of the heating
element.

Pulsed plasma Plasma is used High Isp, can

thruster (electr to erode a be pulsed on Low energetic
ic arc heating; solid and off for efficiency
emits plasma) propellant attitude control

Similar
thrust/weight
ratio with ion
drives
(worse),
thermal issues,
Variable Variable Isp fro
Microwave as with ion
specific m 1,000
heated plasma drives very
impulse seconds to
with magnetic high power
magnetoplasm 10,000
throat/nozzle requirements
a rocket seconds
for significant
thrust, really
needs
advanced
nuclear
reactors, never
flown,
 requires low
temperatures
for
superconducto
rs to work

See also: Electrically powered spacecraft propulsion

Thermal[edit]
Preheated[edit]

Type Description Advantages Disadvantages

Hot water is stored in a

Simple, Low overall
Hot tank at high
fairly safe, performance
water temperature / pressure
under 200 due to heavy
rocket and turns to steam in
seconds Isp tank
nozzle

Solar thermal[edit]
The Solar thermal rocket would make use of solar power to
directly heat reaction mass, and therefore does not require an
electrical generator as most other forms of solar-powered
propulsion do. A solar thermal rocket only has to carry the
means of capturing solar energy, such
as concentrators and mirrors. The heated propellant is fed
through a conventional rocket nozzle to produce thrust. The
engine thrust is directly related to the surface area of the solar
collector and to the local intensity of the solar radiation and
inversely proportional to the Isp.

Descriptio
Type Advantages Disadvantages
n

Only useful once

Simple design. Using in space, as
hydrogen propellant, thrust is fairly
900 seconds of Isp is low, but
comparable to Nuclear hydrogen has not
Thermal rocket, without been
the problems and traditionally
Solar Propellant complexity of thought to be
therma is heated controlling a fission easily stored in
l by solar reaction.[citation needed] space,[39] otherwi
rocket collector se
Ability to productively moderate/low Isp
use waste if higher–
gaseous hydrogen—an molecular-mass
inevitable byproduct of propellants are
long-term liquid used. Using
hydrogen storage in higher–
the radiative molecular-
 heat environment of weight
space—for both orbital propellants, for
stationkeeping and attitu example water,
de control.[39] lowers
performance.
See also: Ion thruster
Beamed thermal[edit]

Descriptio
Type Advantages Disadvantages
n

~1 MW of
power per kg of
payload is
needed to
achieve orbit,
relatively high
accelerations,
lasers are
Propellant
blocked by
is heated by
clouds, fog,
light beam
reflected laser
(often laser)
light may be
aimed at Simple in
Light- dangerous,
vehicle principle, in
beam- pretty much
from a principle very high
powered needs hydrogen
distance, exhaust speeds can
rocket monopropellant
either be achieved
for good
directly or
performance
indirectly
which needs
via heat
heavy tankage,
exchanger
some designs are
limited to ~600
seconds due to
reemission of
light since
propellant/heat
exchanger gets
white hot

Isp is comparable to 0.3-3 MW of

Nuclear Thermal power per kg of
rocket combined payload is
Propellant
with T/W needed to
is heated by
Microwave comparable to achieve orbit
microwave
-beam- conventional depending on
beam aimed
powered rocket. While the
at vehicle
rocket LH2 propellant propellant,[40] an
from a
offers the highest d this incurs
distance
Isp and rocket infrastructure
payload fraction, cost for the
ammonia or beam director
methane are plus related
 economically R&D costs.
superior for earth- Concepts
to-orbit rockets operating in the
due to their millimeter-wave
particular region have to
combination of contend with
high density and weather
Isp. SSTO operatio availability and
n is possible with high altitude
these propellants beam director
even for small sites as well as
rockets, so there effective
are no location, transmitter
trajectory and diameters
shock constraints measuring 30–
added by the 300 meters to
rocket staging propel a vehicle
process. to LEO.
Microwaves are Concepts
10-100× cheaper operating in X-
in $/watt than band or below
lasers and have all- must have
weather operation effective
at frequencies transmitter
below 10 GHz. diameters
measured in
kilometers to
achieve a fine
enough beam to
follow a vehicle
to LEO. The
transmitters are
too large to fit
on mobile
platforms and so
microwave-
powered rockets
are constrained
to launch near
fixed beam
director sites.

Nuclear thermal[edit]

Descriptio Disadvantage
Type Advantages
n s

Heat from About 700–

Radioisotope radioactive 800
Low
rocket/"Poodle decay is seconds,
thrust/weight
thruster" (radioactiv used to almost no
ratio.
e decay energy) heat moving
hydrogen parts
 Maximum
temperature is
limited by
materials
technology,
some
Propellant
Isp can be radioactive
(typically,
high, particles can
hydrogen)
perhaps 900 be present in
is passed
seconds or exhaust in
Nuclear thermal through a
more, above some designs,
rocket (nuclear nuclear
unity nuclear
fission energy) reactor to
thrust/weigh reactor
heat to
t ratio with shielding is
high
some heavy,
temperatur
designs unlikely to be
e
permitted
from surface
of the Earth,
thrust/weight
ratio is not
high.

Nuclear[edit]
Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety
of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear
reaction as their primary power source. Various types of nuclear
propulsion have been proposed, and some of them tested, for
spacecraft applications:

Descripti
Type Advantages Disadvantages
on

Difficulties in
heating
propellant
Nuclear
Very hot without losing
reaction
propellant, fissionables in
using a
not limited by exhaust, massive
gaseous
keeping thermal issues
Gas core reactor state
reactor particularly for
rocket(nuclear fission
solid, Isp betw nozzle/throat
fission energy) reactor in
een 1,500 and region, exhaust
intimate
3,000 seconds almost
contact
but with very inherently highly
with
high thrust radioactive.
propellant
Nuclear
lightbulb
variants can
contain
 fissionables, but
cut Ispin half.

Fission
products
Fission-fragment are
Theoretical only
rocket(nuclear directly
at this point.
fission energy) exhausted
to give
thrust

A sail
material
is coated
Fission No moving
with Theoretical only
sail (nuclear parts, works
fissionabl at this point.
fission energy) in deep space
e material
on one
side

Thermal issues
Nuclear in nozzle,
salts are propellant could
Nuclear salt-
held in Very high Isp, be unstable,
water
solution, very high highly
rocket (nuclear
caused to thrust radioactive
fission energy)
react at exhaust.
nozzle Theoretical only
at this point.

Never been
tested, pusher
plate may throw
Shaped
off
nuclear
Very high Isp, fragments due to
bombs are
very high shock, minimum
detonated
Nuclear pulse thrust/weight size for nuclear
behind
propulsion (explo ratio, no show bombs is still
vehicle
ding fission/fusion stoppers are pretty big,
and blast
bombs) known for expensive at
is caught
this small scales,
by a
technology nuclear treaty
'pusher
issues, fallout
plate'
when used
below Earth's
magnetosphere.
 Containment of
Nuclear antimatter,
Antimatter pulse production of
catalyzed nuclear propulsio antimatter in
Smaller sized
pulse n with macroscopic
vehicle might
propulsion (fissio antimatter quantities is not
be possible
n and/or fusion assist for currently
energy) smaller feasible.
bombs Theoretical only
at this point.

Fusion is
Fusion Very high Largely beyond
used to
rocket (nuclear exhaust current state of
heat
fusion energy) velocity the art.
propellant

Problems with
antimatter
production and
Extremely
Antimatte handling; energy
energetic,
Antimatter r losses
very high
rocket(annihilatio annihilati in neutrinos, ga
theoretical
n energy) on heats mma
exhaust
propellant rays, muons;
velocity
thermal issues.
Theoretical only
at this point

History of rocket engines[edit]

According to the writings of the Roman Aulus Gellius, the
earliest known example of jet propulsion was in c. 400 BC,
when a Greek Pythagorean named Archytas, propelled a
wooden bird along wires using steam.[41][42] However, it would not
appear to have been powerful enough to take off under its own
thrust.
The aeolipile described in the first century BC (often known
as Hero's engine) essentially consists of a steam rocket on
a bearing. It was created almost two millennia before
the Industrial Revolution but the principles behind it were not
well understood, and its full potential was not realised for a
millennium.
The availability of black powder to propel projectiles was a
precursor to the development of the first solid rocket. Ninth
Century Chinese Taoist alchemists discovered black powder in
a search for the elixir of life; this accidental discovery led to fire
arrows which were the first rocket engines to leave the ground.
It is stated that "the reactive forces of incendiaries were
probably not applied to the propulsion of projectiles prior to the
13th century". A turning point in rocket technology emerged with
a short manuscript entitled Liber Ignium ad Comburendos
Hostes (abbreviated as The Book of Fires). The manuscript is
composed of recipes for creating incendiary weapons from the
mid-eighth to the end of the thirteenth centuries—two of which
are rockets. The first recipe calls for one part of colophonium
and sulfur added to six parts of saltpeter (potassium nitrate)
dissolved in laurel oil, then inserted into hollow wood and lit to
"fly away suddenly to whatever place you wish and burn up
everything". The second recipe combines one pound of sulfur,
two pounds of charcoal, and six pounds of saltpeter—all finely
powdered on a marble slab. This powder mixture is packed
firmly into a long and narrow case. The introduction of saltpeter
into pyrotechnic mixtures connected the shift from hurled Greek
fire into self-propelled rocketry. .[43]
Articles and books on the subject of rocketry appeared
increasingly from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. In
the sixteenth century, German military engineer Conrad Haas
(1509–1576) wrote a manuscript which introduced the
construction to multi-staged rockets.[44]
Rocket engines were also brought in use by Tippu Sultan, the
king of Mysore. These rockets could be of various sizes, but
usually consisted of a tube of soft hammered iron about 8 in
(20 cm) long and 1 1⁄2–3 in (3.8–7.6 cm) diameter, closed at one
end and strapped to a shaft of bamboo about 4 ft (120 cm) long.
The iron tube acted as a combustion chamber and contained
well packed black powder propellant. A rocket carrying about
one pound of powder could travel almost 1,000 yards (910 m).
These 'rockets', fitted with swords used to travel long distance,
several meters above in air before coming down with swords
edges facing the enemy. These rockets were used against
British empire very effectively.
Slow development of this technology continued up to the later
19th century, when Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky first wrote
about liquid-fueled rocket engines. He was the first to develop
the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, though it was not published
widely for some years.
The modern solid- and liquid-fueled engines became realities
early in the 20th century, thanks to the American
physicist Robert Goddard. Goddard was the first to use a De
Laval nozzle on a solid-propellant (gunpowder) rocket engine,
doubling the thrust and increasing the efficiency by a factor of
about twenty-five. This was the birth of the modern rocket
engine. He calculated from his independently-derived rocket
equation that a reasonably sized rocket, using solid fuel, could
place a one-pound payload on the Moon. He began to use
liquid propellants in 1921 and was the first to launch, in 1926, a
liquid-propellant rocket. Goddard pioneered the use of the De
Laval nozzle, lightweight propellant tanks, thrust vectoring, the
smoothly-throttled liquid fuel engine, regenerative cooling, and
curtain cooling.[8]:247–266
During the late 1930s, German scientists, such as Wernher von
Braun and Hellmuth Walter, investigated installing liquid-fueled
rockets in military aircraft (Heinkel He 112, He 111, He
176 and Messerschmitt Me 163).[45]
The turbopump was first employed by German scientists in
World War II. Until then cooling the nozzle had been
problematic, and the A4 ballistic missile used dilute alcohol for
the fuel, which reduced the combustion temperature sufficiently.
Staged combustion (Замкнутая схема) was first proposed
by Alexey Isaev in 1949. The first staged combustion engine
was the S1.5400 used in the Soviet planetary rocket, designed
by Melnikov, a former assistant to Isaev.[8] About the same time
(1959), Nikolai Kuznetsov began work on the closed cycle
engine NK-9 for Korolev's orbital ICBM, GR-1. Kuznetsov later
evolved that design into the NK-15 and NK-33 engines for the
unsuccessful Lunar N1 rocket.
In the West, the first laboratory staged-combustion test engine
was built in Germany in 1963, by Ludwig Boelkow.
Hydrogen peroxide / kerosene fueled engines such as the
British Gamma of the 1950s used a closed-cycle process
(arguably not staged combustion, but that's mostly a question of
semantics) by catalytically decomposing the peroxide to drive
turbines before combustion with the kerosene in the combustion
chamber proper. This gave the efficiency advantages of staged
combustion, whilst avoiding the major engineering problems.
Liquid hydrogen engines were first successfully developed in
America, the RL-10 engine first flew in 1962. Hydrogen engines
were used as part of the Apollo program; the liquid hydrogen
fuel giving a rather lower stage mass and thus reducing the
overall size and cost of the vehicle.
Most engines on one rocket flight was 44 set by NASA in 2016
on a Black Brant.[46]