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Starchaser starts production of it’s 15 tonne rocket engine
Starchaser Industries announce the start of production of their CHURCHILL Mk 3 liquid propellant rocket engine. The new engine is designed to deliver some 15 tonnes of usable thrust for a burn time of up to 70 seconds. Two such engines will be used to power the STARCHASER 5 Reusable Launch Vehicle on its sub-orbital journey into space.
Starchaser’s propulsion development programme has followed a structured and incremental approach. The first CHURCHILL rocket engine, the Mk 1, underwent an extensive series of tests including 5 static firings and produced the specified 0.5 tonnes of thrust. The Mk 1 provided validated data from which to build the larger CHURCHILL Mk 2 rocket engine.
The Mk 2 followed a similar series of 7 static test firings which culminated in a long duration burn of 53 seconds. This engine performed perfectly and proved the reusability of the engine. The Mk 2 developed 3-tonnes of thrust and provided crucial data for the design of the Mk 3 rocket engine.
The CHURCHILL Mk 3 rocket engine builds upon the extensive experience gained from the Mk 1 and Mk 2 engines and proves the validity of Starchaser’s step-by-step approach to rocket engine development. All three engines are powered using the same liquid oxygen / kerosene bi-propellant combination that took Apollo to the moon. Read More

posted by Sigurd @ 5/19/2004 07:05:00 PM