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The result was RP-1, the specifications of which were finalized by 1954. A highly refined form of jet fuel, RP-1 burned much more cleanly than conventional petroleum fuels and also posed less of a danger to ground personnel from explosive vapours.
Engine Origin Designer Vehicle Status Use Propellant Power cycle Specific impulse (s) [a] Thrust (N) [a] Chamber pressure (bar) Mass (kg) Thrust: weight ratio [b] Oxidiser: fuel ratio
Russia is also working to switch the Soyuz-2 from RP-1 to "naftil" [10] or "naphthyl". [11] [12] After the RP-1 standard, RP-2 was developed. The primary difference is an even lower sulfur content. However, as most users accept RP-1, there was little incentive to produce and stock a second, even rarer and more expensive formulation.
The RP-1/LOX Merlin on the Falcon 9 can also be restarted. [12] The most common hypergolic fuels, hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, and oxidizer, nitrogen tetroxide, are all liquid at ordinary temperatures and pressures. They are therefore sometimes called storable liquid propellants. They are suitable for use ...
At least one exception exists: the Russian RD-180 preburner, which burns LOX and RP-1 at a ratio of 2.72. Additionally, mixture ratios can be dynamic during launch. This can be exploited with designs that adjust the oxidizer to fuel ratio (along with overall thrust) throughout a flight to maximize overall system performance.
One of the most efficient mixtures, oxygen and hydrogen, suffers from the extremely low temperatures required for storing liquid hydrogen (around 20 K or −253.2 °C or −423.7 °F) and very low fuel density (70 kg/m 3 or 4.4 lb/cu ft, compared to RP-1 at 820 kg/m 3 or 51 lb/cu ft), necessitating large tanks that must also be lightweight and ...
In November 2012, Musk announced that SpaceX was working on methane-fueled rocket engines, that Raptor would be methane-based, [40] and that methane would fuel Mars colonization. [24] Because of the presence of underground water and carbon dioxide in Mars atmosphere , methane, a simple hydrocarbon , could be synthesized on Mars using the ...
In October 2012, SpaceX publicly announced concept work on a rocket engine that would be "several times as powerful as the Merlin 1 series of engines, and won't use Merlin's RP-1 fuel". [58] They indicated that the large engine was intended for a new SpaceX rocket, using multiple of these large engines could notionally launch payload masses of ...