The aerospike engine holds great promise for spaceflight, but for various reasons, has remained slightly out of reach for decades. But thanks to Leap 71, the technology has moved one step closer to a spacecraft near you with the test fire of their generatively-designed, 3D printed aerospike.
We reported on the original design process of the engine, but at the time it hadn’t been given a chance to burn its liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel. The special sauce was the application of a computational physics model to tackle the complex issue of keeping the engine components cool enough to function while directing 3,500˚C exhaust around the eponymous spike.
Printed via a powder bed process out of CuCrZr, cleaned, heat treated, and then prepped by the University of Sheffield’s Race 2 Space Team, the rocket produced 5,000 Newtons (1,100 lbf) of thrust during its test fire. For comparison, VentureStar, the ill-fated aerospike single stage to orbit project from the 1990s, was projected to produce more than 1,917 kilonewtons (431,000 lbf) from each of its seven RS-2200 engines. Leap 71 obviously has some scaling up to do before this can propel any crewed spacecraft.
If you want to build your own aerospike or 3D printed rocket nozzles we encourage you to read, understand, and follow all relevant safety guidelines when handling your rockets. It is rocket science, after all!
