Variable Thrust, Kerosene Fueled, Tactical Rocket Motor Development

Busek proposes the development of kerosene/JP10 fueled small rocket motor suitable for tactical and in-space applications. The motor design and the choice of oxidizer will be driven by the requirements for broad and rapid motor throttleability, arbitrary number of absolutely reliable restarts without the use of hypergolic mixtures, performance comparable or better than presently available solid motors of comparable size, 10 year storability without performance degradation, low or no toxicity, and environmental requirements typical of tactical systems that may exclude oxidizers with freezing point significantly above that of JP10. To meet such a list of requirements Busek proposes innovative fuel flow rate regulation system capable of millisecond responsiveness, and innovative fuel atomization approaches to ensure reliable starting without hypergolic mixtures and high energy igniters. In Phase 1 Busek will develop a conceptual design of a liquid motor with the above described attributes using the Sidewinder motor as a reference against which the design will be evaluated. A subscale motor will be designed, build and tested in Busek facilities with the goal to validate the innovative fuel atomization augmented with electrospray techniques combined with electric ignition system. In Phase 2, Busek will work with a major prime that is currently supplying tactical motors.