The Fenris Rocket Engine and the Dawn of a New Rocket Age
By: Mountain Aerospace Research Solutions
Tags: Space Exploration, Space Economy, Space

Overview of Test Pad 3 staging for first ignition of the Fenris engine, which took place on July 26, 2019, at Mojave Air and Space Port, Mojave, California.

The Fenris Rocket Engine and the Dawn of a New Rocket Age

The current method of getting into outer space is effective and tested — yet still very expensive. Even with the entrance of private enterprise into the space race, it remains far beyond the financial ability of the average person to leave Earth, even for a short while.

What can be done to drive down the price?

Rocket technology is simply at its limit, in many ways. That’s why SpaceX and many others have been pursuing reusability, to lower the cost of leaving Earth.

According to space policy analyst Wendy Whitman Cobb, the cost to launch a payload into space averaged $18,500 per kilogram between 1970 and 2000. Payloads on NASA’s Space Shuttles cost about $54,500 per kilogram. Today, a payload on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 costs about $2,790 per kilogram. Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, recently interviewed Elon Musk, who explained that SpaceX Raptor engines are 98–99% efficient.

This means that the liquid-fueled rocket is at the theoretical maximum for its performance. There is no more performance to get out of chemical rockets — and no more savings to eke out from them.

The cost of getting chemical rockets into space also is dependant to the amount of mass it takes. A typical payload is propelled into orbit by a rocket that uses so much fuel that 96% is left behind on the way. Only 4% of the total launch mass ever reaches space.

These are fixed realities of the rocket equation. Every bit of payload mass you want to get off the planet requires the corresponding mass in propellant, plus the propellant necessary to lift that propellant. Which is why chemical rockets today are in a tough spot when it comes to making them more economical.

You could say we are victims of our own excellence in rocket engineering: we have taken rockets and pushed them to their technical limits.

Mountain Aerospace Research Solutions has pioneered a work-around, using cutting edge computational fluid dynamics and the latest in additive manufacturing. The Fenris engine picks up where traditional liquid-fueled rockets stop. Using the atmosphere as free reaction mass and propellant, the Fenris engine is a new step forward in the evolution of human space exploration.

Screen grab of the Fenris test-firing on July 26, 2019. This proof-of-concept test used ambient air, three gallons of kerosene and one bottle of gaseous O2.

Data from our first test of the Fenris engine confirmed that Fenris does use the atmosphere for propellant and reaction mass. The static test fire ran for two minutes at the same altitude (2,792 feet ), so further tests at altitude and range will be required to determine the overall theoretical limits of efficiency gains over existing technology.

The real savings will come when the full suite of technologies implied by the Fenris engine are brought into reality. This new kind of engine and its increased performance to orbit will enable, and necessitate, a complete redesign of current launch vehicles. This is a good thing in terms of safety and reusability.

Instead of needing a 96–4 fuel to payload ratio in order to achieve orbit, the Fenris should enable massive gains over that current hard limit. What will those gains be? We won’t speculate.

The Fenris engine will further reduce costs over legacy rocket motors. It is capable of being manufactured and flown within a few weeks from order. Today’s engines take well over a year, or more, to make.

These are the early days of an exciting new technology.

The Fenris engines impact will only grow over time. The performance limits of chemical rockets is the beginning of the road for the Fenris engine. The simplicity of design and robust nature of its operation envelope will ensure this is the go-to engine for our species for many years to come.

So if you get a chance to see a rocket launch, you should go. They are an endangered species, whose days are fading fast. Not because they are poorly done, but because there exists a better way forward, where 90% of current technology can directly transfer to this new method of space access.

This is the first-ever Fenris engine prototype (F2018K0101C#A), which was static tested on July 26, 2019.

Fenris can revolutionize the entire aerospace industry and, in the process, create jobs instead of displacing them. New efficiencies mean new opportunities to companies who are already at their limits. MARspacS hopes to partner with forward-leaning companies who are ready to bring the future into the present.

Fenris should drop the cost of space access to the point where the barrier to entry into the space economy will be something even a mid-sized business can consider.

The benefits of pursuing Fenris technology are obvious when you consider that the current archetype has no more efficiency to be wrung out of it. At some point game theory will kick in, and one company will use the Fenris to eat the lunch of other companies who failed to adapt. At MARS we can imagine who this could disrupt. Many highly skilled professionals and many important ongoing projects within the scientific community could be harmed by an asymmetric release of this technology. MARS is therefore willing to license this technology and continue its development, in order that all may participate and, in so doing, shepherd in a smooth technological transition to the new era of air-breathing Fenris engines.

The MARS Team