he project aims to develop and test a rocket engine demonstrator with an aerospike nozzle, applicable to planetary landers.
In the course of the project, an assessment of conceptual solutions (both existing and developed as part of the project) of rocket propulsion systems using aerospike nozzles will be carried out in terms of suitability for planetary landers.
Particular attention will be paid to ensuring sufficiently efficient cooling of the most thermally loaded structure elements and the possibility of changing the thrust over time. The prepared concepts will also be assessed in terms of feasibility and implementation costs.
Based on the concept that best meets the requirements, a detailed design of a demonstrator powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane with a nominal thrust of 5-6kN will be developed. The demonstrator will finally be built and tested at the German Aerospace Center DLR to verify its operating parameters.
The project is implemented in the consortium: TU Dresden (leader), Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Umformtechnik, Fraunhofer-Insititut für Lasertechnik, Deutsches Zentrum fur Lüft- und Raumfahrt and Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation.
IoA team leader: Dominik Kublik, PhD
E-mail: dominik.kublik@ilot.lukasiewicz.gov.pl
Project duration: 16.10.2023 – 27.03.2026
Funding institution: European Space Agency
