Australian adepts of hybrid rocket engines
Australia and New Zealand turned out to be unusually rich in rocket startups - besides Rocket Lab, which is legally an American company, but launches its Electron rocket from the New Zealand cosmodrome, another company recently revealed itself, now Australian with a branch in Singapore, which has begun to test a full-size engine for their missiles. Gilmour Space Technologies successfully tested the 7 ton hybrid engine.
Frame from video test
The video shows the testing of the G-70 engine, which is planned to be used on the company's geophysical and space rockets. One engine allows you to create a geophysical rocket capable of raising up to 130 kg to an altitude of up to 150 km. And to launch a satellite into orbit, you need a three-stage rocket with 8 G-70 at the first stage, 4 at the second and 1 at the third. According to Gilmour Space Technologies calculations, such a rocket will be able to take up to 380 kg to a low orbit.
Screenshot of the company's website
A feature of the engine is that it is hybrid - the fuel is stored in solid form, and the oxidizer is supplied in liquid / gaseous form. This allows you to combine the advantages of solid-fuel and liquid-propellant rocket engines - the hybrid taxiway is as simple and compact as a solid propellant rocket motor, and it can be restarted and controlled by a rocket engine.
Hybrid rocket engine scheme The hybrid
engine was successfully used on SpaceShipOne suborbital space planes, but in the second version, SpaceShipTwo, the developers faced its flaws - the engine turned out to be poorly scalable . Gilmour Space Technologies claims to have dealt with this problem. According to them, the G-70 is arguably the most powerful single-bore engine in the fuel block. The SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo engines are more powerful, but obviously, according to Gimlour, use several openings.
Typical profiles of holes in a saber of a hybrid engine, source
In a solid-fuel engine, the profile of the fuel checker determines how the thrust will change with time. In a hybrid engine, the thrust is determined by the amount of oxidant supplied, but the profile of the checkers is still very important - it affects the efficiency of the engine. Gilmour Space Technologies is printing their checkers on a 3D printer. In the early engines used ABS plastic, now - a secret composition. The company is also going to patent its own design of a 3D printer for printing fuel checkers, because the usual new fuel can not work.
Experimental 3D printer Gilmour, source
According to the company, the resulting engine can throttle thrust in the range of 10-100% and is highly stable burning.
Gilmour Space Technologies was founded by former banker Adam Gilmour with his wife and brother. At first they were engaged in simulators and replicas, creating simulators of an F / A-18 fighter-bomber, a spacecraft with 6 degrees of freedom, MCC and work in zero gravity, as well as replicas of the first American spacecraft "Mercury" and the Chinese ship "Shengzhou". In 2014, this activity was frozen, and the company focused on hybrid rocket engines. In 2016, engines were tested for nitrous oxide and ABS plastic.
In the same year, the RASTA rocket with a hybrid engine successfully climbed 5 km.
In parallel, the engine was tested on the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
In 2017, the company collected investors' money and tested a hybrid engine for cubsat. There are plans to launch an ARIEL geophysical rocket in the second quarter of 2018 (according to the head of the company) or the first quarter of 2019 (according to information from the official website). And the ERIS orbital rocket is expected to be off the ground at the end of 2020.
What cosmic private traders are good at is a lot of them, and they are experimenting with different technologies. Electric drive of pumps , 15-part engine or starting from a stratospheric sphere , and now even more hybrid engines. Not all companies will be successful, but even those who are defeated will be helpful in testing interesting technical ideas in practice.
Frame from video test
Space hybrid
The video shows the testing of the G-70 engine, which is planned to be used on the company's geophysical and space rockets. One engine allows you to create a geophysical rocket capable of raising up to 130 kg to an altitude of up to 150 km. And to launch a satellite into orbit, you need a three-stage rocket with 8 G-70 at the first stage, 4 at the second and 1 at the third. According to Gilmour Space Technologies calculations, such a rocket will be able to take up to 380 kg to a low orbit.
Screenshot of the company's website
A feature of the engine is that it is hybrid - the fuel is stored in solid form, and the oxidizer is supplied in liquid / gaseous form. This allows you to combine the advantages of solid-fuel and liquid-propellant rocket engines - the hybrid taxiway is as simple and compact as a solid propellant rocket motor, and it can be restarted and controlled by a rocket engine.
Hybrid rocket engine scheme The hybrid
engine was successfully used on SpaceShipOne suborbital space planes, but in the second version, SpaceShipTwo, the developers faced its flaws - the engine turned out to be poorly scalable . Gilmour Space Technologies claims to have dealt with this problem. According to them, the G-70 is arguably the most powerful single-bore engine in the fuel block. The SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo engines are more powerful, but obviously, according to Gimlour, use several openings.
Typical profiles of holes in a saber of a hybrid engine, source
In a solid-fuel engine, the profile of the fuel checker determines how the thrust will change with time. In a hybrid engine, the thrust is determined by the amount of oxidant supplied, but the profile of the checkers is still very important - it affects the efficiency of the engine. Gilmour Space Technologies is printing their checkers on a 3D printer. In the early engines used ABS plastic, now - a secret composition. The company is also going to patent its own design of a 3D printer for printing fuel checkers, because the usual new fuel can not work.
Experimental 3D printer Gilmour, source
According to the company, the resulting engine can throttle thrust in the range of 10-100% and is highly stable burning.
A little about the company
Gilmour Space Technologies was founded by former banker Adam Gilmour with his wife and brother. At first they were engaged in simulators and replicas, creating simulators of an F / A-18 fighter-bomber, a spacecraft with 6 degrees of freedom, MCC and work in zero gravity, as well as replicas of the first American spacecraft "Mercury" and the Chinese ship "Shengzhou". In 2014, this activity was frozen, and the company focused on hybrid rocket engines. In 2016, engines were tested for nitrous oxide and ABS plastic.
In the same year, the RASTA rocket with a hybrid engine successfully climbed 5 km.
In parallel, the engine was tested on the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
In 2017, the company collected investors' money and tested a hybrid engine for cubsat. There are plans to launch an ARIEL geophysical rocket in the second quarter of 2018 (according to the head of the company) or the first quarter of 2019 (according to information from the official website). And the ERIS orbital rocket is expected to be off the ground at the end of 2020.
Conclusion
What cosmic private traders are good at is a lot of them, and they are experimenting with different technologies. Electric drive of pumps , 15-part engine or starting from a stratospheric sphere , and now even more hybrid engines. Not all companies will be successful, but even those who are defeated will be helpful in testing interesting technical ideas in practice.