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Comparison Of Orbital Rocket Engines
This page is an incomplete list of orbital rocket engine data and specifications. Current, upcoming, and in-development rocket engines Retired and canceled rocket engines See also * Comparison of orbital launch systems * Comparison of orbital launchers families * Comparison of crewed space vehicles * Comparison of space station cargo vehicles * Comparison of solid-fuelled orbital launch systems * List of space launch system designs * List of orbital launch systems This is a list of conventional orbital launch systems. This is composed of launch vehicles, and other conventional systems, used to place satellites into orbit. Argentina *ORBIT II – ''Retired'' *Tronador (rocket), TRONADOR – ''Under Develop ... Notes References {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbital rocket engine comparison Spaceflight Technological comparisons Outer space lists Rocket engines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Spaceflight
An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee (altitude at closest approach) around ; this is the boundary of space as defined by NASA, the US Air Force and the FAA. To remain in orbit at this altitude requires an orbital speed of ~7.8 km/s. Orbital speed is slower for higher orbits, but attaining them requires greater delta-v. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line at an altitude of as a working definition for the boundary between aeronautics and astronautics. This is used because at an altitude of about , as Theodore von Kármán calculated, a vehicle would have to travel faster than orbital velocity to derive sufficient aerodynamic lift from the atmosphere to support itself. Due to atmospheric drag, the lowes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orion (spacecraft)
Orion (Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin that is paired with a European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Capable of supporting a crew of four beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar panels, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces. Orion is launched atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system. Orion was conceived in the early 2000s by Lockheed Martin as a proposal for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to be used in NASA's Constellation program and was selected by NASA in 2006. Following the cancellation of the Constellation program in 2010, Orion was extensively redesigned for use in NASA's Journey to Mars initiative; later named Moon to Mars. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Origin
Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own rockets, Blue Origin supplies engines for other vehicles, including United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It is also working on the Blue Moon (spacecraft), Blue Moon human lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program, the Blue Ring spacecraft platform, and the Orbital Reef space station in partnership with other organizations. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin initially operated with a stealth startup, very low profile, funded by Bezos's private investments. In 2015, the company achieved a significant milestone with the first uncrewed launch and landing of the New Shepard and announced plans for New Glenn. In 2021, New Shepard completed its first crewed mission with Bezos himself on board, crossing the Kármán line, the conventiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BE-3U
The BE-3 (Blue Engine 3) is a liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket engine developed by Blue Origin. The engine began development in the early 2010s and completed acceptance testing in early 2015. The engine is being used on the New Shepard suborbital rocket, for which made its first test flight on 29 April 2015 and had its first crewed flight on 20 July 2021. A variant of the engine is being used in the 2nd stage of the New Glenn orbital rocket, for which made its inaugural flight on 16 January 2025. In 2015, the engine was under consideration by United Launch Alliance (ULA) for use in a new second stage, the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage, in ULA's Vulcan orbital launch vehicle with first flight in the 2020s. History Following Aerojet’s acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in 2012, Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the defense industrial base. Blue Origin publicly entered the liquid rocket engine business by partnering with ULA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staged Combustion Cycle
The staged combustion cycle (sometimes known as topping cycle, preburner cycle, or closed cycle) is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket engine. In the staged combustion cycle, propellant flows through multiple combustion chambers, and is thus combusted in stages. The main advantage relative to other rocket engine power cycles is high fuel efficiency, measured through specific impulse, while its main disadvantage is engineering complexity. Typically, propellant flows through two kinds of combustion chambers; the first called and the second called . In the preburner, a small portion of propellant, usually fuel-rich, is partly combusted under non- stoichiometric conditions, increasing the volume of flow driving the turbopumps that feed the engine with propellant. The gas is then injected into the main combustion chamber and combusted completely with the other propellant to produce thrust. Tradeoffs The main advantage is fuel efficiency due to all of the propellant flowin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron (rocket)
Neutron is a partially reusable medium-lift two-stage launch vehicle under development by Rocket Lab. Announced on 1 March 2021, the vehicle is designed to be capable of delivering a payload of to low Earth orbit in a partially reusable configuration, and will focus on the growing megaconstellation satellite delivery market. The vehicle is expected to be operational sometime in 2025. It uses LOX and liquid methane propellant on both stages of the vehicle. Design An earlier design of Neutron (March 2021), included a rocket tall with a -diameter payload fairing. Rocket Lab stated that they intended for the first stage of the vehicle to be reusable, with landings planned on a floating landing platform downrange in the Atlantic Ocean called Return On Investment. During the company's earnings call in February 2025, a plan to modify the offshore barge were unveiled. On 2 December 2021, Rocket Lab unveiled a revised design for Neutron, featuring a tapered shape with a maximum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab Corporation is a Public company, publicly traded aerospace manufacturer and List of launch service providers, launch service provider. Its Rocket Lab Electron, Electron orbital rocket launches Small satellite, small satellites, and has launched 63 times as of April 2025. A Sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital Electron variant called HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) serves other needs. The company also supplies satellite components including Star tracker, star trackers, Reaction wheel, reaction wheels, Solar cell, solar cells and arrays, Satellite radio, satellite radios, separation systems, as well as flight and ground software. The Expendable launch system, expendable Electron rocket first Rocket, launched in May 2017. In August 2020, the company launched its first Rocket Lab Photon, Photon satellite. The company built and operates satellites for the Space Development Agency, part of the United States Space Force. In May 2022, the company attemp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archimedes (rocket Engine)
Archimedes is a liquid-fuel rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and liquid methane in an oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle. It is designed by aerospace company Rocket Lab for its Neutron rocket. History Archimedes was presented on December 2, 2021, in a webcast by Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck as a fully reusable, gas generator engine using liquid oxygen (LOX) and methane as propellant, a departure from the company's previous Rutherford, which is electrically pump fed. He then stated that it had a thrust of and 320 seconds of specific impulse. The same day, the Neutron page on Rocket Lab's website was updated specifying the thrust of the nine Archimedes engines used on the first stage as at sea level and a maximum thrust of and the upper stage's single vacuum optimized Archimedes at . It was expected to have its first hot-fire test during May 2024. In an interview published on the CNBC website, Beck stated that Archimedes would be manufactured in New Zealand and its very ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propane
Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is often a constituent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is commonly used as a fuel in domestic and industrial applications and in low-emissions public transportation; other constituents of LPG may include propene, propylene, butane, butene, butylene, butadiene, and isobutylene. Discovered in 1857 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, it became commercially available in the US by 1911. Propane has lower volumetric energy density than gasoline or coal, but has higher gravimetric energy density than them and burns more cleanly. Propane gas has become a popular choice for barbecues and portable stoves because its low −42 °C boiling point makes it vaporise inside pressurised liquid containers (it exists in two pha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectrum (rocket)
Spectrum is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle being developed by the German startup company Isar Aerospace. Development of the Spectrum commenced during the 2010s. Much of its design has been produced internally; a key target during development was the price point of €10,000 ($11,700) per kg, as well as to be as flexible as possible as to suit a wide variety of payload requirements. Isar Aerospace has arranged terms to conduct Spectrum launches from both the Andøya Spaceport in Norway and the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Early customers for the launcher include Airbus Defence and Space, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Spaceflight, Inc. On March 30, 2025 the rocket lost control about 18 seconds after the first launch and fell into the sea. Design Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed to carry both small and medium-sized satellites. It has a maximum payload capacity of 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO) or alternatively up to 700 kg to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isar Aerospace
Isar Aerospace is a German aerospace company based in Ottobrunn near Munich. The company was founded in 2018. The company is named after a river that flows through Munich. Development The company is developing Spectrum, a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket designed to launch 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. Isar Aerospace intends to manufacture 80% of the rocket themselves, using primarily technology from the tech firms in the area surrounding Munich. A launch license was issued by the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on 17 March 2025. The launch occurred on 30 March 2025 but fell back to earth after losing control. Funding In 2018 Isar Aerospace received first angel investment from early SpaceX leader Bulent Altan and others. In April 2020 Isar Aerospace closed US$17M in Series A funding led by Earlybird and Airbus Ventures to build its space platform. In December 2020, the company got an additional €75 million ($91 million) in funding led by Lakestar and with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressure-fed Engine
The pressure-fed engine is a class of rocket engine designs. A separate gas supply, usually helium, pressurizes the propellant tanks to force fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber. To maintain adequate flow, the tank pressures must exceed the combustion chamber pressure. Pressure fed engines have simple plumbing and have no need for complex and occasionally unreliable turbopumps. A typical startup procedure begins with opening a valve, often a one-shot pyrotechnic device, to allow the pressurizing gas to flow through check valves into the propellant tanks. Then the propellant valves in the engine itself are opened. If the fuel and oxidizer are hypergolic, they burn on contact; non-hypergolic fuels require an igniter. Multiple burns can be conducted by merely opening and closing the propellant valves as needed. If the pressurization system also has activating valves, they can be operated electrically, or by gas pressure controlled by smaller electrically operated valves. Care ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
