New Record! 333sec ISP via bipropellant

Contributed by Greg Francke

hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, 150lb thrust in a standard 100lb form factor.

iridium-lined rhenium combustion chamber run at 4, 000°C, wide throttle range, no practical limit to restarts.

storable, but toxic propellants.

For anybody who doesn’t know, but cares: ISP is a figure of efficiency, it states how long a given mass of fuel generates the same ’amount’ of thrust, usually given in seconds.

So: SSME (space shuttle cryogenic liquid fuelled)= 465 sec- (a pound of LOX and LH2 will generate a pound of thrust for 465 seconds in a shuttle main engine)

SSRB: (solid booster for shuttle) 269 sec

Spaceship One: (hybrid)= 250 sec

This thing: 333 seconds.

Final analysis:

It’s a relatively easy to use storable propellant fully throttleable unlimited restart high ISP engine with good scaling potential for future small-scale stuff like spaceplanes and such.

Aerojet Bipropellant Engine Sets New Performance Record

Aerojet News Release