Patent ID: 11920543
Assignee: RADIAN AEROSPACE INC.
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  B | IPC B  F

Claim 13:
14. A reusable space vehicle system, comprising:
a reusable horizontal takeoff/horizontal landing (HTHL), ground-assisted single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane; and
a rocket propulsion system, carried by the spaceplane, and including:
a combustion chamber having a curved, inwardly-facing chamber wall enclosing a combustion zone, the chamber having a generally spherical shape with the curved, inwardly-facing chamber wall exposed to the combustion zone; and
a propellant injector coupled to the combustion chamber and having at least one fuel injector nozzle positioned to direct a flow of cooling fuel tangentially relative to the curved, inwardly-facing chamber wall;
wherein the propellant injector includes:
a movable fuel piston; and
a movable oxidizer piston;
wherein the oxidizer piston includes an oxidizer piston wall around an oxidizer passageway, the oxidizer piston wall comprises a fuel piston channel extending within the oxidizer piston wall, and the fuel piston is movable within the fuel piston channel.