MASS INJECTION AND PRECOMPRESSOR COOLING ENGINES ANALYSES

Despite numerous focused efforts at low-cost solutions, the high cost of access to space remains a stressing mission constraint in developing the space environment. One approach that has received little attention to date concerns the use of precompressor cooling resulting from the inlet injection of water and/or oxidizer into an afterburning TJ (so-called MIPCC engine). An afterburning TJ engine modified in this way could serve as the propulsion for the first stage of a reusable launch system. In short, precompressor cooling resulting from the evaporation of water and oxidizer mass injected into the inlet will allow a TJ engine to fly to higher Mach numbers, have higher thrust, and operate to higher altitudes. DARPA has made MIPCC installation of TJ engines a central technology of their RASCAL Program. This paper reports on the early analysis of the capabilities and limitations of MIPCC propulsion. Nomenclature