New rocket engine under development

Valley Press on ^ | Tuesday, December 18, 2007. | ALLISON GATLIN

[BenLurkin]

MOJAVE - Progress on rocket engine technology continues at XCOR Aerospace, as the company this week announced the successful completion of the first round of testing of its new 56-pound thrust rocket engine, the XR-3E17. The new engine is a direct descendant of the company's first "Tea Cart" engine, which debuted in 2000 and has been used as a demonstration model of the company's capabilities.

"We needed a more updated engine," said Aleta Jackson, co-founder of the company, which is based at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

The new engine provides nearly four times the thrust of the original 15-pound thrust engine, while weighing half as much. "It's a lot louder than the old Tea Cart," Jackson said. "It's the Tea Cart on steroids."

The small engine, developed with private investor funding, is made of copper with a lightweight aluminum cooling jacket. It is fueled by a self-pressurizing propellant mixture of ethane and nitrous oxide. The new engine has undergone test firings numbering in "the double digits" at the Mojave facility, Jackson said.

"We are very pleased with the test results so far," said Dan DeLong, chief engineer. "This spark-ignited engine is capable of an unlimited number of starts and restarts."

An engine of this type could be used in a reaction control system used to provide control for vehicles in the vacuum of space.

"We have identified other uses, but they are proprietary," Jackson said.

The debut of the small engine comes shortly after the company announced the successful completion of testing for a 7,500-pound thrust rocket engine developed with Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, under a NASA contract.

[BenLurkin]

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