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> To power this big fancy pump, all liquid-fuel rockets burn fuel in a separate combustion chamber, using the hot gas to power the pump. There's some engineers

by mabbo 6y ago

> To power this big fancy pump, all liquid-fuel rockets burn fuel in a separate combustion chamber, using the hot gas to power the pump. There's some engineers in New Zealand who might have something to say about that... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_(rocket) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_(rocket)

marcusverus 6y ago
Fascinating! Their rocket's trust-weight ratio (~73, according to Wiki) is WAY below the state of the art gas-generator cycle Merlin (~185), presumably because of the added weight of the motor and batteries required to operate an electric turbopump. It's always interesting to see folks look past a supposedly bad design and discover that its other benefits (in this case, cost and simplified design, apparently?) can still render it a viable option.