Rotating rocket science
The successful rocket engine test at the DefendTex/RMIT test facility. Credit: DefendTex/RMIT
As Australia’s space industry gears up, a team of Australian researchers has successfully tested a new type of engine that could be used in rocket launches.
Typical rocket engines burn fuel at a constant pressure in a chamber called a combustor. This engine has a ring-shaped combustor, and it detonates propellant rapidly around the ring.
Once started, there is a self-sustaining cycle of detonation waves travelling around the combustor at very high speeds, exceeding 2.5 kilometres per second.
It’s called a rotating detonation engine, or RDE. Once perfected, it could be more fuel efficient and more compact than typical rocket engines, meaning it could be cheaper and launch heavier items.
The successful engine firing at the DefendTex/RMIT test facility.
An Australian research consortium has successfully tested a next generation propulsion system that could enable high-speed flight and space launch services.
The team’s rotating detonation engine, or RDE, is a major technical achievement and an Australian first.
It was designed by RMIT University engineers and is being developed by a consortium led by DefendTex, with researchers from RMIT, University of Sydney and Universität der Bundeswehr in Germany.
The successful engine firing at the DefendTex/RMIT test facility.
How it works
While conventional rocket engines operate by burning fuel at constant pressure, RDEs produce thrust by rapidly detonating their propellant in a ring-shaped combustor.