Oxygen-Methane Thruster

Orion Propulsion, Inc.

Madison, AL
 

• Provides greater system flexibility over a wider range of operating conditions since it can operate on both liquid and gaseous propellants
  
• Provides an extremely scalable design from 10–2,000 lbf
  Operates in both pulse and sustained burn mode
  
• Uses green propellants and capitalizes on in-situ propellant production
  
• Designed for reusability
  
• Uses a modular design that allows for robust inspection and easy replacement of parts
  
  

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Improved the designs of both the gaseous oxygen/methane torch igniter and RCS thruster
• Refined modeling tools and capabilities that support the system design and analysis
  
• Completed the assembly of the high-altitude prototype
• Demonstrated operation of the igniter and/or thruster at both sea-level and near vacuum conditions
  
  

• This thruster would be an affordable RCS thruster solution to what is currently available, and it could provide in-space propulsion for attitude control or course correction burns for spacecraft and orbital maneuvering
• Has potential as a commercial, off-the-shelf system, including RCS for private space structures such as Bigelow Aerospace’s Orbiting Space Structures
  

• RCS for trans-lunar system architectures, station keeping, and Mars exploration programs that take advantage of in-situ propellant manufacturing
• RCS capability for the Crew Transfer Vehicle (CXV) orbital attitude control
• Liquid/liquid operation of this thruster is applicable to the NASA Crew Launch Vehicle (Ares I)

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Aerospace, Power/Propulsion

Curator: SBIR Support              04/20/07