4.0 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospike engine | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:13:37.577353+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Polaris Spaceplanes === The Bremen-based German startup POLARIS Raumflugzeuge GmbH received a Bundeswehr contract to design and flight test a linear aerospike engine in April 2023. The company is set to test this new engine on board of its fourth spaceplane demonstrator, DEMO-4 MIRA, in late 2023 at Peenemünde, where the V-2 rockets were developed. The original MIRA demonstrator was catastrophically damaged in a runway accident in February 2024. On 29 October 2024, the company was the first ever to ignite an aerospike engine in a flight over the Baltic Sea, powering a four-engine, kerosene-fueled, turbojet MIRA-II demonstrator. The test involved a three-second burn to collect data with minimal engine stress. The vehicle achieved an acceleration of 4 m/s2, producing 900 newtons of thrust. On 27 February 2025, it was announced that the company had been commissioned by the Bundeswehr procurement office BAAINBw to develop a two-stage, horizontal take-off and fully reusable hypersonic research aircraft. In addition to its use as a hypersonic testbed and experimental platform for defense-related and scientific research, the aircraft can also be used as a small satellite carrier. POLARIS Spaceplanes plans to develop a prototype of a fully reusable spaceplane capable of transporting loads of up to 1,000 kilograms into space by 2028.
=== Bath Rocket Team === Based at the University of Bath, the Bath Rocket Team has been developing their own hybrid rocket engine with an aerospike nozzle since 2020. The engine was first tested at the UK Race to Space National Propulsion Competition in 2023. The team is developing a flight-ready version of the engine they are planning to fly for the first time at EuRoC24.
=== SpaceFields === SpaceFields, incubated at IISc, has successfully tested India's first AeroSpike Rocket Engine at its Challakere facility on 11-Sep-2024. The engine achieved a peak thrust of 2000N and featured altitude compensation for optimal efficiency.
=== LEAP 71 ===
Dubai-based LEAP 71 successfully hot fired a 5000N Aerospike powered by cryogenic liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene at the test stand of Airborne Engineering in Westcott, UK. The engine was created through the Noyron Large Computational Engineering Model directly from first principles without human intervention or traditional CAD modeling. The engine was 3D-printed using selective laser melting as a single monolithic part from copper (CuCrZr). The central spike was cooled using LOX, while the outer jacket was cooled using the fuel. The injector head measured 600 mm in diameter and a nozzle approximately 1.6 meters tall. The company claimed that it had progressed from specification to hot-fire in under three weeks creating a dual 20 kN methalox bell-nozzle and aerospike in December 2025. The engine was demonstrated with both kerolox and methalox.
== See also == Expanding nozzle LASRE – Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment 1997/8 NASA for X-33 Rotary Rocket – American rocketry company Sabre – Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine - a proposed hybrid ramjet and rocket engine Expansion deflection nozzle
== References ==
== External links ==
Aerospike Engine Advanced Engines planned for uprated Saturn and Nova boosters — includes the J-2T Linear Aerospike Engine — Propulsion for the X-33 Vehicle Dryden Flight Research Center Archived 25 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Aerospike Engine Control System Features And Performance X-33 Attitude Control Using The XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine Bui, Trong; Murray, James; Rogers, Charles; Bartel, Scott; Cesaroni, Anthony; Dennett, Mike (2005). "Flight Research of an Aerospike Nozzle Using High Power Solid Rockets". 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit. doi:10.2514/6.2005-3797. ISBN 978-1-62410-063-5. Are Aerospikes Better Than Bell Nozzles?