RocketEngines

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Rocket Engine

The general principle may be simple, but there are numerous ways of achieving it. Different features and properties differ between existing rocket engines, and they all have consequences on complexity of manufacturing, complexity of operation, cost and weight for example.

We gather in this table the main properties of existing rocket engines.

FRocket engines features
Company Rocketdyne XCOR XCOR Virgin
Model SSME XR-4A3 (EZ-rocket) XR-5K18 (Lynx) SpaceShipOne
Propellers LOX & LH2 LOX & Alcohol LOX & Kerosene LOX & Kerosene
Tank pressurization Yes, with O2 and H2 gases No No Yes
Fuel pump Turbopump Piston pump Piston pump ?
Cooling Regenerative w/ LH2 in three stages Regenerative Regenerative w/ Kerosene Regenerative
Chamber metal Copper or iron? Copper Copper ?