Regeneratively-Cooled, Turbopump-Fed, Small-Scale Cryogenic Rocket Engines

To-date, the realization of small-scale, high-performance liquid bipropellant rocket engines has largely been limited by the inability to operate at high chamber pressures in a regeneratively-cooled environment using on-board pumps for propellant pressurization. Ventions seeks to fulfill this critical need by using a novel fabrication scheme to realize small-scale thrust chambers and turbopumps, and proposes to extend its previously-demonstrated technologies (under DARPA and NASA sponsored efforts) to develop a 3,000lbf, regeneratively-cooled, cryogenic propulsion system with a T/W ratio of approx. 100 and a vacuum Isp up to 355sec.

Non-NASA applications for high-performance micro-rocket engines enabled by the proposed pump technology are likely to include commercial / military launch vehicles for low-cost and on-demand access to space for a variety of micro / small satellite payloads, upper stage propulsion for orbit insertion of commercial satellites, apogee kick motors for orbit circularization of commercial satellites, etc. Additionally, the pump itself is expected to have non-aerospace applications in industrial cryogenic pumping applications, and as a replacement for small-scale, high-pressure liquid pumps.

The proposed pump concept overcomes a key challenge of providing on-board pressurization for high-performance rocket engines in the small size-class. Hence, upon integration with other propulsion system components (thrust chamber, valves, tanks, etc.), it serves as critically-enabling technology for a new generation of liquid bipropellant rocket engines in the 50-5,000lbf thrust class. Additionally, these turbopump and thrust chamber assemblies may be batch fabricated in a cost-effective manner and modularly stacked, thereby covering a wide range of NASA exploration applications, including nano-sat launch, lunar ascent / descent(precursors, rovers, cargo, man-rated vehicles, etc.), planetary missions (payload ascent vehicles for payload and orbiting sample placement into orbit, sample return, etc.), and Near-Earth-Object (NEO) missions (sample return).

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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