Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. In-space propulsion exclusively deals with propulsion systems used in the vacuum of space and should not be confused with space launch or atmospheric entry.
In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters are sometimes referred to as Hall thrusters or Hall-current thrusters. Hall-effect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons' axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume. The Hall-effect thruster is classed as a moderate specific impulse space propulsion technology and has benefited from considerable theoretical and experimental research since the 1960s.
An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The ions are then accelerated using electricity to create thrust. Ion thrusters are categorized as either electrostatic or electromagnetic.
Specific impulse is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the impulse, i.e. change in momentum, per mass of propellant. This is equivalent to "thrust per massflow". The resulting unit is equivalent to velocity, although it doesn't represent any physical velocity ; it is more properly thought of in terms of momentum per mass, since this represents a physical momentum and physical mass.
Waxwing was a British solid rocket motor used for apogee kick as the 3rd (upper) stage of the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicles. It was also known as Black Arrow-3. Waxwing was used to successfully place the Prospero X-3 satellite into low Earth orbit on 28 October 1971, Britain's only satellite launched on an indigenously developed launch vehicle. Before being separated from the Black Arrow launch vehicle, it would be spun on a turntable using six radial 'Imp' solid rocket motors to spin stabilise the satellite. This means that any discrepancy in thrust in any direction would be cancelled out. The Waxwing motor is now out of production.
KVD-1 was an upper stage LOX/LH2 cryogenic engine developed by the Isayev Design Bureau (now KB KhIMMASH) of Russia in the early 1960s. It is a modified version of the RD-56, developed for a never-completed cryogenic upper stage of the N-1 super-heavy lift rocket, with the goal of enabling crewed lunar missions by the USSR. The KVD-1 produces a thrust of 7.5 tonnes.
The Algol family of solid-fuel rocket stages and boosters is built by Aerojet and used on a variety of launch vehicles. It was developed by Aerojet from the earlier Jupiter Senior and the Navy Polaris programs. Upgrades to the Algol motor occurred from 1960 until the retirement of the Scout launch vehicle in 1994.
A liquid apogee engine (LAE), or apogee engine, refers to a type of chemical rocket engine typically used as the main engine in a spacecraft.
The NASA Solar Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) is a type of spacecraft ion thruster called electrostatic ion thruster. It is a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion running on electrical power generated by solar arrays. It uses high-voltage electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.
The S5.92 is a Russian rocket engine, currently used on the Fregat upper stage. It burns a hypergolic mixture of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel with dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) oxidizer in the gas-generator cycle.
The KTDU-35 was a Soviet spacecraft propulsion system composed of two liquid rocket engines, the primary, S5.60 (SKD) and the secondary S5.35 (DKD), fed from the same propellant tanks. Both engines burn UDMH and AK27I in the gas generator cycle. It was designed by OKB-2, the famous Isaev Design Bureau, for the original Soyuz programme.
The KTDU-80 (Russian: Корректирующе-Тормозная Двигательная Установка, КТДУ) is the latest of a family of integrated propulsion system that KB KhIMMASH has implemented for the Soyuz since the Soyuz-T. It integrates main propulsion, RCS and attitude control in a single system pressure fed from a common dual string redundant pressurized propellant system. The common propellant is UDMH and N2O4 and the main propulsion unit is the S5.80 main engine. It generates 2.95 kN (660 lbf) of thrust with a chamber pressure of 880 kPa (128 psi) and a nozzle expansion of 153.8 that enables it to achieve a specific impulse of 302 s (2.96 km/s). It is rated for 30 starts with a total firing time of 890 seconds. The integrated system without the pressurization or tanks weighs 310 kg (680 lb); it is 1.2 m (47 in) long with a diameter of 2.1 m (83 in).
The S5.80 is a liquid pressure-fed rocket engine burning N2O4/UDMH with an O/F of 1.85. It is used for crew-rated spacecraft propulsion applications. It is currently used in the Soyuz-TMA-M spacecraft propulsion module KTDU-80, and its sibling, the S5.79 rocket engine, is still used as the main propulsion of the Zvezda ISS module. The S5.80 generates 2.95 kN (660 lbf) of thrust with a chamber pressure of 0.88 MPa (128 psi) and a nozzle expansion of 153.8 that enables it to achieve a specific impulse of 302 s (2.96 km/s). It is rated for 30 starts with a total firing time of 890 seconds. The engine, without the pressurization system or propellant tanks, weighs 310 kg (680 lb) and is an integrated unit that is 1.2 m (47 in) long with a diameter of 2.1 m (83 in).
The A.M. Isayev Chemical Engineering Design Bureau, also known as KB KhimMash or just KBKhM, is a Russian rocket engine design and manufacturing company. It is located in the city of Korolyov. It started as the OKB-2 division of the NII-88 research institute, where A.Isaev directed the development of liquid rocket engines for ballistic missile submarines.
The 11D428A-16 (manufacturer's name RDMT-135M) is a liquid pressure-fed rocket engine burning N2O4/UDMH with an O/F of 1.85. It is used for crew-rated spacecraft propulsion applications. It is currently used in the KTDU-80 spacecraft propulsion module. The previous version, the 11D428A (manufacturer's name RDMT-135) is still used as the reaction control system thrusters of the Zvezda ISS module. The 11D428A-16 generates 129.16 N (29.04 lbf) of thrust with a chamber pressure of 0.88 MPa (128 psi) and achieves a specific impulse of 291 s (2.85 km/s). It is rated for 500,000 starts with a certified ignition time of 0.03 seconds to 2000 seconds. Each unit weights 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).
The S5.142 (AKA DST-25) is a liquid pressure-fed rocket engine burning N2O4/UDMH with an O/F of 1.85. It is used for crew-rated spacecraft propulsion applications. It was used in KTDU-80 propulsion module from the Soyuz-TM to the Soyuz-TMA-M, as the low thrust thruster (DPO-M). As of the Soyuz MS, KTDU-80 does not use DPO-M anymore.
The 4MV planetary probe is a designation for a common design used for Soviet unmanned probes to Mars and Venus.
Raptor is a family of rocket engines developed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is the third rocket engine in history designed with a full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) fuel cycle, and the first such engine to power a vehicle in flight. The engine is powered by cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen, a mixture known as methalox.
The Mars-69/M-69 or 2M was the designation given to 2 Soviet Mars probes that were to be sent in 1969. Based on the Luna E-8 landers used for Luna 15-24, they were the first attempted Mars and Interplanetary Orbiters. The probes, however, were both destroyed in separate launches in early 1969.
The KDU-414, is a pressure-fed liquid rocket Propulsion Unit developed and produced by the Isayev Design Bureau. From 1960 onward, it powered several unmanned Soviet Spacecraft, including the first series of Molniya satellites, several Kosmos satellites as well as the space probes Mars 1, Venera 1, Zond 2 and Zond 3, featured as a part of standardized spacecraft buses known as KAUR-2, 2MV and 3MV.
