Astrobotic posts 300‑second RDRE burn
- Astrobotic said April 24 it completed a hot-fire campaign for its Chakram engine, including a 300-second continuous burn at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. - The company said two Chakram prototypes logged eight hot fires, more than 470 seconds total, and topped 4,000 pounds of thrust without visible damage. - Rotating detonation engines aim to deliver more thrust with less fuel for spacecraft and missiles. (spacenews.com)
A rotating detonation rocket engine burns fuel in a spinning shock wave, more like a ring of explosions than a steady flame. Astrobotic said April 24 that one of those engines ran for 300 seconds in a test at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (astrobotic.com) Astrobotic calls the engine Chakram, and said the 300-second run is believed to be the longest hot fire of a rotating detonation rocket engine to date. The Pittsburgh company said the test used one of two prototypes in a campaign of eight hot fires. (astrobotic.com) (spacenews.com) The two engines accumulated more than 470 seconds of run time across the campaign, and each produced more than 4,000 pounds of thrust, Astrobotic said. The company also said engineers found no discernible damage to the hardware after testing. (astrobotic.com) In a conventional liquid rocket engine, propellants burn in a chamber and the hot gas exits through a nozzle. In a rotating detonation engine, the combustion wave races around a circular channel, which researchers have long pursued as a way to squeeze more work from the same fuel. (scientificamerican.com) (spacenews.com) That promise has been hard to turn into hardware that can run long enough to matter. SpaceNews reported most previous rotating detonation engine demonstrations were short-duration tests, making Astrobotic’s 300-second burn a step toward mission-length operation rather than a brief lab result. (spacenews.com) Astrobotic said it is developing Chakram for space and defense uses, including lunar landers, in-space transportation, and national security missions. The company has also been expanding its propulsion work beyond lunar delivery, announcing $17.5 million in contracts this month tied to reusable rocket systems. (astrobotic.com 1) (astrobotic.com 2) The test comes as Astrobotic continues work on its lunar business after Peregrine Mission One flew in January 2024 but failed to reach the Moon because of a propellant leak. Its next lunar lander, Griffin, remains in development for a later mission. (astrobotic.com 1) (astrobotic.com 2) For Astrobotic, the point of the 300-second firing is less a video moment than a durability check: can an experimental engine keep running without tearing itself apart. On April 24, the company said Chakram cleared that test for five continuous minutes. (astrobotic.com)
