A hydrogen-fuelled laser-heated thruster can produce a specific impulse of 500-800 seconds - sufficient to reach Earth orbit with plausible single-stage mass ratios - at exhaust temperatures between 1000 K and 2000 K. At these low temperatures, a solid heat exchanger can be both cheap and efficient. A heat-exchanger-based thruster has a fundamental advantage over other laser-heated engines in that it is omnivorous - any laser wavelength or pulse format is accpetable. We present some options for vehicle and launch-system design and estimate their performance.


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    Title :

    Laser-heated heat-exchanger thruster


    Additional title:

    Lasererhitzter Wärmetauscher zur Schubverstärkung


    Contributors:
    Kare, J. (author)

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    1991


    Size :

    31 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 13 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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