Ala. Pulse detonation rocket engines offer a lightweight, low-cost alternative for space transportation. Pulse detonation rocket engine technology is being developed for upper stages that boost satellites to higher orbits. The advanced propulsion technology could also be used for lunar and planetary landers and excursion vehicles that require throttle control for gentle landings. Pulse detonation rocket engines operate by injecting propellants into long cylinders that are open on one end and closed on the other.
Fuel begins to burn and rapidly transitions to a detonation, or powered shock.
The shock wave travels through the cylinder at 10 times the speed of sound, so combustion is completed before the gas has time to expand. The explosive pressure of the detonation pushes the exhaust out the open end of the cylinder, providing thrust to the vehicle. In a typical rocket engine, complex turbopumps must push fuel and oxidizer into the engine chamber at an extremely high pressure of about 2,000 pounds per square inch or the fuel is blown back out. The pulse mode of pulse detonation rocket engines allows the fuel to be injected at a low pressure of about 200 pounds per square inch. Marshall engineers and industry partners United Technology Research Corp. of Tullahoma, Tenn., and Adroit Systems Inc. of Seattle have built small-scale pulse detonation rocket engines for ground testing.