An engine start system includes a facility that has a ground based hydraulic pressurization system and a combustor of a liquid propellant rocket engine. The engine is fluidly coupled to the ground based hydraulic pressurization system. The liquid propellant rocket engine is operably detachable from the ground based hydraulic pressurization system.

Systems and methods for nuclear reactor direct drive of a cryocooler turbine. A nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system may have a nuclear reactor that heats a thermal working fluid for directly driving the turbine to power a cryogenic fluid management (CFM) system for keeping propellant at cryogenic temperatures. The features may be used on NTP rockets. The propellant may be liquid hydrogen.

Mining apparatuses, systems and methods related to the use of a rocket engine's plume and a collection manifold to efficiently displace, collect, process and store frozen volatiles embedded within or below a surface is disclosed. The plume contacts and churns up the surface. The frozen volatiles are displaced and/or evaporated within a closed environment under a collection manifold. The collection manifold has related components for addressing these frozen or gaseous volatiles downstream. Various apparatuses and subsystems are also disclosed including a rover, processing plants, collection manifold, and vapor manifold.

A method for operating a rocket propulsion system comprises the steps of supplying oxygen to a combustion chamber, supplying hydrogen to the combustion chamber and combusting the oxygen-hydrogen mixture in the combustion chamber. The rocket propulsion system is operated alternately in a first operating mode, in which oxygen and hydrogen are supplied to the combustion chamber in a first mass mixing ratio of oxygen to hydrogen, and in a second operating mode, in which oxygen and hydrogen are supplied to the combustion chamber in a second mass mixing ratio of oxygen to hydrogen that is greater than the first mass mixing ratio.

The present disclosure discloses a propulsion method based on liquid carbon dioxide phase change and a propulsion device. The method includes the following steps of: accommodating carbon dioxide in a thermally insulated container in a liquid phase form; transiently heating to convert the carbon dioxide from a liquid phase to a gas phase; and jetting carbon dioxide gas after the phase change in a predetermined direction by a predetermined jet-out amount so as to obtain a propulsion force.

A spacecraft is equipped with a low and high thrust space propulsion system including at least one water reservoir (1) containing liquid water, a high thrust propulsion part and a low thrust propulsion part. The high thrust propulsion part has a high thruster including a regulation valve (V1) for drawing water from the liquid water reservoir (1), a device for splitting (2) liquid water into gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen, relative storage tanks (3, 4), a combustion chamber (5) in which the gaseous hydrogen reacts with the gaseous oxygen and an exhaust nozzle (6) from the combustion chamber (5). The low thrust propulsion part comprises a liquid water supply line (10) and a plurality of liquid water outlets in a plurality of branches (11-1n) individually including a regulating valve (21-2n), a vaporization chamber (31-3n) and an expansion nozzle (41-4n).

Various embodiments of a vortex thruster system is described herein that is configured to create at least three discrete thrust levels. In some embodiments, the vortex thruster system is configured to decompose a monopropellant and deliver the decomposed monopropellant into a vortex combustion chamber for generating various thrust levels. In some embodiments, the vortex thruster system includes a secondary propellant valve configured to deliver a secondary propellant into the vortex combustion chamber containing decomposed monopropellant to create a high thrust level. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also described.

Closed-loop refrigeration cycles for liquid oxygen densification are disclosed. The disclosed refrigeration cycles may be turbine-based refrigeration cycles or a Joule-Thompson (JT) expansion valve based refrigeration cycles and include a refrigerant or working fluid comprising a mixture of neon or helium together with nitrogen and/or oxygen.

Closed-loop refrigeration cycles for liquid oxygen densification are disclosed. The disclosed refrigeration cycles may be turbine-based refrigeration cycles or a Joule-Thompson (JT) expansion valve based refrigeration cycles and include a refrigerant or working fluid comprising a mixture of neon or helium together with nitrogen and/or oxygen.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for generating hot gases based on catalyzation involving flowing catalyst. Catalysis occurs in a flow-type mixing catalyzation channel in which a liquid catalyst mixes with a liquid reactant flowing in a desired flow regime, such as a striated (laminar) flow regime or a slug flow regime. Devices such as micro-thrusters for satellite and other applications and hot gas generators for powering another device, such as an electrical generator, can be made using one or more flow-type mixing catalyzation channels.