10-06-2010, 09:07 PM
Abstract:
The aerospike engine is a type of rocket engine that maintains its aerodynamic efficiency across a wide range of altitudes through the use of an aerospike nozzle. It is a member of the class of altitude compensating nozzle engines. A vehicle with an aerospike engine uses 25“30% less fuel at low altitudes, where most missions have the greatest need for thrust. Aerospike engines have been studied for a number of years and are the baseline engines for many single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) designs and were also a strong contender for the Space Shuttle main Engine. the term aerospike originally was used for a (very roughly conically tapering) truncated plug nozzle with some gas injection to form an ˜air spike™ to help make up for the absence of the tail of the plug.