Devices and methods of rocket propulsion are disclosed. In one aspect, a staged combustion liquid rocket engine with preburner and turbopump unit (TPU) integrated into the structure of the combustion chamber is described. An initial propellant mixture is combusted in a preburner combustion chamber formed as an annulus around a main combustion chamber, the combustion products from the preburner driving the turbine of the TPU and subsequently injected into the main combustion chamber for secondary combustion along with additional propellants, generating thrust through a supersonic nozzle. The preburner inner cylindrical wall is shared with the outer cylindrical wall of the engine's main combustion chamber and the turbine is axially aligned with the main combustion chamber. Liquid propellants supplied to the engine are utilized for regenerative cooling of the combustion chamber and preburner, where the liquid propellants are gasified in cooling manifolds before injection into the preburner and main combustion chamber.

Devices and methods of rocket propulsion are disclosed. In one aspect, a staged combustion liquid rocket engine with preburner and turbopump unit (TPU) integrated into the structure of the combustion chamber is described. An initial propellant mixture is combusted in a preburner combustion chamber formed as an annulus around a main combustion chamber, the combustion products from the preburner driving the turbine of the TPU and subsequently injected into the main combustion chamber for secondary combustion along with additional propellants, generating thrust through a supersonic nozzle. The preburner inner cylindrical wall is shared with the outer cylindrical wall of the engine's main combustion chamber and the turbine is axially aligned with the main combustion chamber. Liquid propellants supplied to the engine are utilized for regenerative cooling of the combustion chamber and preburner, where the liquid propellants are gasified in cooling manifolds before injection into the preburner and main combustion chamber.

A rocket engine propulsion system having improved engine performance is described herein. The rocket engine propulsion system includes an axial counterbalance to reduce or eliminate axial thrust exerted on components of a turbopump. The axial counterbalance can allow for a larger range of axial thrust forces while coupling this ability to a rotational speed (e.g., rotations per minute, or RPM) of a shaft. The axial counterbalance includes a rack and pinion system in which the rack can be teeth extending circumferentially around a shaft and the pinon can be teeth extending outwardly from a swing arm perpendicular to the shaft. The swing arm is rotatably attached to a bracket which is constrained by a static support. The swing arm can also include a weight on an end of the swing arm opposite the end of the swing arm including the pinion.

A rocket engine propulsion system having improved engine performance is described herein. The rocket engine propulsion system includes an axial counterbalance to reduce or eliminate axial thrust exerted on components of a turbopump. The axial counterbalance can allow for a larger range of axial thrust forces while coupling this ability to a rotational speed (e.g., rotations per minute, or RPM) of a shaft. The axial counterbalance includes a rack and pinion system in which the rack can be teeth extending circumferentially around a shaft and the pinon can be teeth extending outwardly from a swing arm perpendicular to the shaft. The swing arm is rotatably attached to a bracket which is constrained by a static support. The swing arm can also include a weight on an end of the swing arm opposite the end of the swing arm including the pinion.

A propellant injector is adapted to be installed to a hybrid rocket engine and includes an injector casing, a tube and a plurality of blades. The tube is arranged along a center axis of the propellant injector in an inner space of the injector casing. The plurality of blades is disposed to and evenly distributed over an outer surface of the tube, and is configured to cause vortices toward a combustion chamber of the hybrid rocket engine when being driven to rotate.

A liquid rocket engine integrates tap-off openings at a combustion chamber wall to direct exhaust from the combustion chamber to a tap-off manifold that provides the exhaust to one or more auxiliary systems, such as a turbopump that pumps oxygen and/or fuel into the combustion chamber. The tap-off opening passes through a fuel channel formed in that combustion chamber exterior wall and receives fuel through a fuel opening that interfaces the fuel channel and tap-off opening. The tap-off manifold nests within a fuel manifold for thermal management. The fuel channel directs fuel into the combustion chamber through fuel port openings formed in the combustion chamber, the fuel port openings located closer to a headend of the combustion chamber than the tap-off openings.

A liquid rocket engine integrates tap-off openings at a combustion chamber wall to direct exhaust from the combustion chamber to a tap-off manifold that provides the exhaust to one or more auxiliary systems, such as a turbopump that pumps oxygen and/or fuel into the combustion chamber. The tap-off opening passes through a fuel channel formed in that combustion chamber exterior wall and receives fuel through a fuel opening that interfaces the fuel channel and tap-off opening. The tap-off manifold nests within a fuel manifold for thermal management. The fuel channel directs fuel into the combustion chamber through fuel port openings formed in the combustion chamber, the fuel port openings located closer to a headend of the combustion chamber than the tap-off openings.

A turbojet engine capable of operation in an Air Turbo Rocket (ATR) mode includes a compressor, a rotatable turbine wheel comprising turbine blades, a non-rotating guide vane ring comprising guide vanes, a turbine shaft configured to power said compressor, a combustor, a gas generator, and a main combustor. The main combustor is configured to combust hot, fuel rich gas from the gas generator in air compressed by the compressor. Hot, fuel rich gas from the gas generator is directed towards the turbine blades by a directing means.

The present disclosure relates to a rocket engine, and more particularly, a rocket engine with an integrated combustor head and turbopump in which a turbopump of the rocket engine is formed integrally with a combustor head.

A turbine includes a shaft configured to rotate about a rotor axis; a pair of rotating blade rows, the pair of rotating blade rows including a pair of disks that extend radially outward from the shaft and are disposed at an interval in a direction of the rotor axis, each one of the pair of rotating blade rows including a plurality of rotating blades arranged in a circumferential direction on an outer peripheral end of the disk; and a pair of stator vane rows disposed in a one-to-one manner on a first side of the pair of rotating blade rows in the direction of the rotor axis, each one of the pair of stator vane rows including a plurality of stator vanes arranged in the circumferential direction, wherein a number of the rotating blades on each one of the pair of rotating blade rows is the same, and a number of the stator vanes on each one of the pair of stator vane rows is the same.