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.