Successful Aerospike Engine Static Fire Test, June 21, 2003
A team from California State University, Long Beach, in partnership with
Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC), successfully conducted a static fire
test of a 1000 lbf ablative annular aerospike rocket engine in the Mojave
desert on June 21, 2003 using LOX and ethanol. The engine ran successfully for
the planned 4 seconds. The test also demonstrated the avionics architecture to
be used in subsequent Prospector-3 flights as part of the development of a
low cost thrust vector control system.
Static fire test movie #1 and movie #2 (courtesy of Richard Ornellas)
Note: the pieces "flying around" come from the particle boards placed to "protect" the concrete below the engine
Aerospike engine in operation
About aerospike engines
Unlike conventional rocket engines which are designed to operate
optimally at a single altitude (and thus suffer losses at other
operating conditions), aerospike engines offer the advantage of
self compensation as the launch vehicle climbs through the atmosphere
and provide improvements in propulsive efficiency when operating
below design pressure when compared with conventional bell shaped
nozzle. This technology would greatly benefit single stage to orbit
(SSTO) vehicles, or vehicles which, like the Space Shuttle,
operate with engines from sea-level to orbital velocity. Aerospike
engines were investigated by Rocketdyne in the 1960's,
and then again as part of the now defunct X-33 program. As part of
the latter, Boeing Rocketdyne developed the RS-2200, a linear
aerospike which was static fired several times. However, to date,
no aerospike engine using liquid propellants is known to have powered
a rocket in flight after more than four decades of research.
About this aerospike engine static fire test
The static fire test came a little more than a year after the static
fire test of their first aerospike engine during which the plug failed
after 200 ms. The new engine design was based on the previous one with
modifications to address issues raised with the first one, such as the
addition of a second ignition port. More importantly, the modified
design incorporated a titanium rod running through the center of the
graphite plug and isolated with RTV.
Aerospike engine mounted to test stand
Pressure and force data was collected during the test and will be posted as it becomes available.
Key individuals
The key student contributors to this new engine were Stanley Baksi,
"Pepe" Jose Ruiz, Jeff Hayes and Tae-Hoon Lim, who worked
closely with Paul Skaar from the Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department. GSC affiliates and other industry mentors
also played a major role in the development, integration and testing
of the engine, in particular Tom Mueller, John Garvey, John Engberg,
David McCue, Chris Richins and Richard Ornellas without forgetting
"Mike Novratil and family". Thank you also to Dave Crisalli and the
Reaction Research Society for facilitating access to the Mojave Test
Area.
The team prior to static fire test
Pepe (Jose) and Cassie loading LOX supervised by Mike
What's next?
The next steps in the project involve machining a new set of graphite
parts in preparation for a launch onboard the previously flown
Prospector-2 (P-2) vehicle.
The graphite outer ring at the combustion chamber exit eroded
too much to attain the 300 psi chamber pressure needed at take-off, and the
center plug cracked after the test, probably due to the over pressure in the
center slot for the titanium rod once chamber pressure decreased to ambient after
engine shutoff. The objective is to machine these parts and integrate the engine
into P-2 for an August launch which would mark the first powered flight of an
aerospike engine using liquid propellants.
For additional information about
either the CALVEIN project and/or the cooperative program between
CSULB and Garvey Spacecraft Corporation, please contact the following
project representatives:
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