Space Flight of Liquid Rotating Detonation Engine Using Sounding Rocket S-520-34

One of the most important goals in aerospace engineering applications is the creation of new “flyable” systems. In a flight demonstration using the sounding rocket S-520-34, we show the first successful operation of a bipropellant cylindrical rotating detonation engine using liquid ethanol and liquid nitrous oxide, Detonation Engine System 2 (DES2), in a space environment. From the pressure and temperature histories, the combustion was finished before all propellants were consumed because nitrogen was supplied earlier than the ideal depletion time due to spin stabilization of the sounding rocket. Therefore, the combustion pressure decreased from the nitrogen-supply start time. The short-time Fourier transform result indicated that the deflagration mode, two-wave mode, and single-wave mode occurred in sequence. This was attributed to the locally lower liquid temperatures, wall temperature, and mixture ratio at ignition near the wall, where the rotating detonation wave propagated. A comparison of the filling mass and consumption indicated that the mass flow rate estimated using control surface theory reflects an actual phenomenon. As for the propulsive performance, the experimental characteristic exhaust velocity was almost the same as the ideal value. Moreover, a specific impulse efficiency of more than 90% was achieved throughout the rotating detonation engine operation.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Published
2025-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2514/1.a36447
Primary Topic
Combustion and Detonation Processes
Type
article
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article

Space Flight of Liquid Rotating Detonation Engine Using Sounding Rocket S-520-34

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Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Combustion and Detonation Processes
article

Space Flight of Liquid Rotating Detonation Engine Using Sounding Rocket S-520-34

Tomoki Sato, Jiro Kasahara, Koichi Matsuyama, Kotaro Nakata, Satoshi Suzuki, Daisuke Nakata, Noboru Itouyama, Satoshi Arakawa, Takehiro Himeno, Akiko Matsuo, Yuichiro Ide, Tatsuro Nakao, Junichi Masuda, Ken Matsuoka, Yamato Suzuki, Kenji Maehara, Ikkoh Funaki, Tomoaki Usuki, Kosuke Kawahara, Hikaru Eguchi, Hiroto Habu, Tomoyuki Takano, Akira Kawasaki, Hidetoshi Hirashima, Kazuhiko Yamada, Masaharu UCHIUMI, R Ishibashi, Maki Shida, M Yasui, Yusei Yahata
article en

Abstract

One of the most important goals in aerospace engineering applications is the creation of new “flyable” systems. In a flight demonstration using the sounding rocket S-520-34, we show the first successful operation of a bipropellant cylindrical rotating detonation engine using liquid ethanol and liquid nitrous oxide, Detonation Engine System 2 (DES2), in a space environment. From the pressure and temperature histories, the combustion was finished before all propellants were consumed because nitrogen was supplied earlier than the ideal depletion time due to spin stabilization of the sounding rocket. Therefore, the combustion pressure decreased from the nitrogen-supply start time. The short-time Fourier transform result indicated that the deflagration mode, two-wave mode, and single-wave mode occurred in sequence. This was attributed to the locally lower liquid temperatures, wall temperature, and mixture ratio at ignition near the wall, where the rotating detonation wave propagated. A comparison of the filling mass and consumption indicated that the mass flow rate estimated using control surface theory reflects an actual phenomenon. As for the propulsive performance, the experimental characteristic exhaust velocity was almost the same as the ideal value. Moreover, a specific impulse efficiency of more than 90% was achieved throughout the rotating detonation engine operation.

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Shizuoka University (JP), Sojo University (JP), Keio University (JP), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP), Muroran Institute of Technology (JP), Nagoya University (JP), The University of Tokyo (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 53%
Combustion and Detonation Processes
DOISourceOpenAlex
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