SpaceX rocket engines
Since the founding of
History
In the first ten years of SpaceX, led by engineer Tom Mueller, the company developed a variety of liquid-propellant rocket engines, with at least one more of that type under development. As of October 2012[update], each of the engines developed to date—
In November 2012, at a meeting of the
By mid-2015, SpaceX had developed a total of 9 rocket engines architectures in the first 13 years of the company's existence.[3]
Kerosene-based engines
SpaceX has developed two
Merlin 1
Merlin 1 is a family of
The
The
Kestrel
Kestrel was a
Methane-based engines
In November 2012,
Raptor
The Raptor methane/LOX engine uses a highly efficient and theoretically more reliable
Initial component-level testing of Raptor technology began in May 2014, with an injector element test.[16][19] The first complete Raptor development engine, approximately one-third the size of the full-scale engines planned for the use on various parts of the Starship, with approximately 1,000 kN (220,000 lbf) thrust, began testing on a ground test stand in September 2016. The test nozzle has an expansion ratio of only 150, in order to eliminate flow separation problems while tested in Earth's atmosphere.[20]
Raptor's full-flow staged combustion cycle will pass 100 percent of the oxidizer (with a low-fuel ratio) to power the oxygen turbine pump, and 100 percent of the fuel (with a low-oxygen ratio) to power the methane turbine pump. Both streams—oxidizer and fuel—will be completely in the
Other characteristics of the full-flow design are projected to further increase performance or reliability, with the possibility to do design trade offs of one against the other:[17]
- eliminating the fuel-oxidizer turbine interseal which is traditionally a point of failure in modern chemical rocket engines
- lower pressures are required through the pumping system, increasing life span and further reducing risk of catastrophic failure
- ability to increase the combustion chamber pressure, thereby either increasing overall performance, or "by using cooler gases, providing the same performance as a standard staged combustion engine but with much less stress on materials, thus significantly reducing material fatigue or [engine] weight."[17]
Methox thruster
SpaceX is developing gaseous Methox thrusters that will utilize gas that needs to be vented from the propellant tanks to control attitude.
In his announcement of the
By 2020, one set of high‑thrust methox RCS thrusters were planned to be located mid‑body on the Starship HLS lunar-landing Starship variant and will be used during the final "tens of meters" of any terminal lunar descent and landing,[24] as well as used for departing from the lunar surface.[24]: 50:30 The mid-body design is specifically to address the problem of lunar surface erosion and the creation of Moon-wide dust from use of Raptor engines that are located at the base of Starship.
In 2021, hot gas thrusters were seen on the body of Starship prototypes,[25] however it is unclear whether these will be used on future Starships.
Hypergolic engines
Draco
They are used asSuperDraco
See also
References
- ^ Morrison, Sara (2020-05-26). "There's a lot riding on Wednesday's SpaceX launch". Vox. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
- ^ a b c d e Todd, David (22 November 2012). "SpaceX's Mars rocket to be methane-fuelled". FlightGlobal. UK. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "SpaceX Prepared Testimony by Jeffrey Thornburg". SpaceRef.com. 26 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
[SpaceX develops] all of our engines in-house and in the United States. The company is currently on its fourth generation of booster engines, which have included the Merlin 1A, the Merlin 1B, the Merlin 1C, and the Merlin 1D. In addition, we have developed the Kestrel vacuum engine, the Merlin 1C vacuum engine, and the Merlin 1D vacuum engine for our second stages on Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. SpaceX has also developed Draco and SuperDraco engines which provide in-space and abort propulsion capability for Dragon ... We are also moving forward with significant R&D on a next generation rocket engine Raptor. ... SpaceX has successfully developed the 9 rocket engines mentioned above in the past 13 years.
- ^ Whitesides, Loretta Hidalgo (2007-11-12). "SpaceX Completes Development of Rocket Engine for Falcon 1 and 9". Wired. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19.
- ^ a b Clark, Stephen (2008-09-28). "Sweet Success at Last for Falcon 1 Rocket". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
- ^ Klotz, Irene (2013-09-06). "Musk Says SpaceX Being "Extremely Paranoid" as It Readies for Falcon 9's California Debut". Space News. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
- ^ "SpaceX Unveils Plans To Be World's Top Rocket Maker". Aviation Week and Space Technology. 2011-08-11. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2012-10-11.(subscription required)
- ^ Chaikin, Andrew (January 2012). "Is SpaceX changing the rocket equation? 1 visionary + 3 launchers + 1,500 employees = ?". Air & Space Magazine. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
- ^ "Spacex's Merlin 1D Engine Achieves Full Mission Duration Firing". SpaceX. June 25, 2012.
- ^ Rosenberg, Zach (2012-03-16). "SpaceX readies upgraded engines". Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
- ^ Wall, Mike (2013-10-17). "SpaceX Hit Huge Reusable Rocket Milestone with Falcon 9 Test Flight". Space.com. New York. Archived from the original on 2014-03-08. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
- ^ Zsidisin, Greg (2007-03-23). "SpaceX Confirms Stage Bump On Demoflight 2". Space Daily. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ Wade, Mark (2014). "Kerstrel". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
- ^ a b c Gwynne Shotwell (2014-03-21). Broadcast 2212: Special Edition, interview with Gwynne Shotwell (audio file). The Space Show. Event occurs at 21:25–22:10 and 26:25–27:10. 2212. Archived from the original (mp3) on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
our focus is the full Raptor size
- ^ "Long term SpaceX vehicle plans". HobbySpace.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ a b c Leone, Dan (2013-10-25). "SpaceX Could Begin Testing Methane-fueled Engine at Stennis Next Year". Space News. Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
- ^ a b c d e f Belluscio, Alejandro G. (2014-03-07). "SpaceX advances drive for Mars rocket via Raptor power". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
- ^ "SpaceX propulsion chief elevates crowd in Santa Barbara". Pacific Business Times. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
- ^ SpaceX to test methane rocket engine in Miss., The Sacramento Bee, 22 April 2014 Archived 29 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Belluscio, Alejandro G. (2016-10-03). "ITS Propulsion – The evolution of the SpaceX Raptor engine". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- ^ Bergin, Chris (2016-09-27). "SpaceX reveals ITS Mars game changer via colonization plan". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ Richardson, Derek (2016-09-27). "Elon Musk Shows Off Interplanetary Transport System". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ Berger, Eric (2016-09-28). "Musk's Mars moment: Audacity, madness, brilliance—or maybe all three". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ a b Cummings, Nick (11 June 2020). Human Landing System: Putting Boots Back on the Moon. American Astronautical Society. Event occurs at 35:00–36:02. Retrieved 17 April 2021 – via YouTube.
for the terminal descent of Starship, a few tens of meters before we touch down on the lunar surface, we actually use a high-thrust RCS system, so that we don't impinge on the surface of the Moon with the high-thrust Raptor engines. ... uses the same methane and oxygen propellants as Raptor.
- ^ Super Heavy's Hot Gas Thrusters Spotted | SpaceX Boca Chica, retrieved 2022-10-09
- ^ "SpaceX Updates — December 10, 2007". SpaceX. 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ "Falcon 9 Launch Vehicle Payload User's Guide, 2009" (PDF). SpaceX. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
- ^ "SpaceX Test Fires Engine Prototype for Astronaut Escape System". NASA. 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ^ "SpaceX ready for Crew Dragon in-flight abort test". SpaceNews.com. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
External links
- SpaceX Tour - Engines, 11 November 2010.
- SpaceX Systems Engineering presentation, 28 September 2012. Includes photograph of Merlin 1C and Merlin 1C vacuum engines side-by-side.