The group of Nagoya University, Keio University, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Muroran Institute of Technology and others announced that they have succeeded in demonstrating the space flight of the "detonation engine" for the first time in the world.

 Detonation is a combustion phenomenon in which heat is released by a chemical reaction with a shock wave.Its propagation speed reaches 2 km / s (7200 km / h), so flammable gas can be burned at high speed.

 The detonation engine system developed in this research was mounted on the mission section of sounding rocket S-520-31 and launched from JAXA Uchinoura Space Center at 2021:7 am on July 27, 5.After the first stage rocket separation, the rotary detonation engine and pulse detonation engine withstood the flight environment and operated normally in outer space.The operation data (image, pressure, temperature, vibration, position, attitude data) of these engines are telemetry (data transmission to Miyahara Telemeter Center of Uchinoura Space Center) and "Re-entry capsule RATS with deployable aeroshell". Obtained by offshore recovery.

 The detonation engine generates detonation waves and compression waves at extremely high frequencies (1 to 100 kHz), which dramatically increases the reaction speed and easily generates thrust.Replacing the existing rocket engine with a detonation engine will enable innovative weight reduction and higher performance.

 With the success of this demonstration experiment, the detonation engine is said to have come very close to practical use as an engine for aerospace aircraft, such as a kick motor for deep space exploration and a first-stage and two-stage engine for rockets. It is expected to lead to.

reference:[Nagoya University] World's first!Succeeded in space flight demonstration of detonation engine for deep space exploration (PDF)

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