Rocket Engines and
Thrust Chambers

LV Propulsion
Aestus
Vulcain
Vulcain 2
HM 7B
Vinci
RS 72
300 N cryo. Engine

Aestus / RS 72 Rocket Engine

A turbopump version of the Aestus presure-fed rocket engine

The RS 72 rocket engine was a collaboration between the the propulsion teams of Boeing-Rocketdyne, Canoga Park and EADS Astrium, Ottobrunn.

The RS 72 is a prototype pathfinder engine based on the Aestus thrust chamber and a powerpack (turbopump, gas generator, valves, and controls) from the Rocketdyne developed XLR-132 engine.

Hot-Fire Tests
On 22 June 2000, a team from the Boeing Company and EADS Astrium successfully completed hot-fire testing of the RS-72 Pathfinder engine at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.

The test success was the latest milestone in a jointly sponsored development programme to fabricate and test a 55 kN (12,500-pound) thrust pump-fed prototype engine using the storable propellant combination MMH / MN2O4.

The 14th and final test of the engine was on 3 May and operated at 100-percent power for 60-seconds.

"We're all kind of walking on clouds here," said Jon Volkmann, Integrated Project Team leader for the RS-72 Pathfinder programme. "For a brand new engine to reach full power in the time we had was a great accomplishment for everyone involved."

Performance
The combination of Aestus with XLR-132 turbopump provides increased performance, multiple restarts and a design life of 2,500-seconds.

The RS 72 is designed for higher performance, thrust and reliability than competing pressure fed systems using the same propellants, with application on existing, or new and evolved launch vehicles.

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