Tag Archives: Pulsar Fusion

UK Company Pulsar Fusion Demonstrates Green, Mach-7 Rocket in Switzerland

On Saturday 26 November, In the sleepy mountain town of Gstaad – Switzerland, British company Pulsar Fusion demonstrated its latest green hybrid rocket engine.

An impressive visual plume effect of supersonic shock diamonds, typical of a high-temperature high mass flow rate rocket exhaust, could be seen through the snowstorm as the team operated the engine in quickly changing conditions. The exhaust speeds of the engine were recorded at Mach 7. This engine would be capable of launching a small rocket to an altitude of several 10s of km, well above UK airspace, or powering the upper stage of a rocket with a larger booster stage into orbit.

UK Company Pulsar Fusion Demonstrates Green, Mach-7 Rocket in Switzerland
UK Company Pulsar Fusion Demonstrates Green, Mach-7 Rocket in Switzerland

CEO, Richard Dinan commented: “British companies with space ambitions must be international and fast-moving, achieving technological milestones on time and on budget whilst being environmentally conscious. Pulsar’s objective is to build world-class technologies that serve as a force for good.

Pulsar’s green (non-toxic) hybrid rocket engine combusts nitrous oxide (N2O) oxidiser and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fuel and oxygen.  The HDPE can be obtained from recycled plastic and the two fuels burn together to produce a non-toxic plume.

The propellants used – nitrous oxide N2O and polyethylene HDPE – are some of the cleanest available to the space industry, producing an exhaust of largely water vapour and having an extremely low production energy requirement, resulting in one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world for an engine of this size.

It is a new model that enables Pulsar to manufacture these compact rocket engines at record lead times, with an enhanced safety factor as due to the design, these engines have relatively benign failure modes in comparison with conventional liquid propulsion engines.

The Pulsar Fusion team with Richard Dinan, pictured third left
The Pulsar Fusion team with Richard Dinan, pictured third left

WHAT DOES PULSAR FUSION DO?

Pulsar Fusion is primarily engaged in the research of high-speed propulsion and clean energy applications from nuclear fusion.

Pulsar Fusion received UK government funding in September 2021 to further develop its HET (Hall Effect Thruster) plasma satellite engines, capable of 20 km / second particle exhaust speeds. These Pulsar thrusters have recently been tested at Harwell’s facilities where they withstood 20g’s of vibration, simulating a rocket launch. Pulsar now seeks to IOD test these engines. (In-Orbit Demonstration).

The company’s ultimate milestone is to produce a hyper-speed propulsion engine using nuclear fusion technologies of which it has been researching for nine years which could eventually be used for interplanetary travel – and which scientists say could halve the journey time from Earth to Mars. A first prototype is expected in 2025.

HOW WAS THIS TEST DIFFERENT TO THE PULSAR UK TESTS?

The test in Gstaad ran the engine on liquid oxidiser, compared to only gas in the UK. The oxidiser quantity and engine impulse were increased by a factor of nearly 10, and the chamber pressure raised from around 5 bar to over 20 bar on the first Swiss test to nearly 50 bar on the 2nd one. Pulsar supercharged the flow with nitrogen pressurant which has not been done in the UK before and in doing so raised the thrust to near the design value of 12kN or just over a tonne of thrust.

WHY DEMONSTRATE IN SWITZERLAND?

The demonstration took place on the Gstaad Runway, an idyllic spot surrounded by mountains. Pulsar sees Switzerland as a country that is well placed to support advanced, environmentally friendly space technologies. The company strives to be a British company that can demonstrate its technologies to international clients and Switzerland is an ideal gateway for such an ambition. Pulsar hopes to carry out further tests in the region in 2022 and invite European space clients to attend. Additionally, Pulsar is in contact with most of the UK launch sites and would probably start with further static tests and low altitude flights at Machrihanish, near Cambletown on Argyll before moving to one of the other sites such as Space Hub Sutherland on the mainland or Spaceport-1 on the Hebrides for high altitude flights towards and beyond the Karman line at 100km.

UK Company PULSAR Demonstrates Green, High Power Rocket Engine and Big Ambitions

Pulsar Fusion Ltd, a UK nuclear fusion company based in Bletchley, has just developed and tested its first launch capable, high-power chemical rocket engine in the UK.

These rocket engines could be used for a variety of applications, including launching people and satellites into space.

The company’s ultimate ambition in the future is to produce a hyper-speed propulsion engine using nuclear fusion technologies for interplanetary travel – which scientists think could cut the journey time to Mars in half.

This successful set of test firings showcases the rapid design development and test process of high-performance engineering components to support Pulsar Fusion’s energy and propulsion hardware portfolio roadmap. The rocket engine proudly displayed the Union Jack flag during testing.

UK Company PULSAR Demonstrates Green, High Power Rocket Engine and Big Ambitions
UK Company PULSAR Demonstrates Green, High Power Rocket Engine – Photo Credit Pulsar Fusion Ltd

Pulsar’s UK acceptance tests at COTEC – Ministry of Defence military base in Salisbury, took place on November 17 and 18, 2021 (As pictured) which were static tests. These will be followed by an international demonstration for space clients in Switzerland on November 25.

This hybrid rocket engine has demonstrated impressive visual plume effects such as supersonic shock diamonds typical of a high temperature, high mass flow rate rocket exhaust.

UK Company PULSAR Demonstrates Green, High Power Rocket Engine and Big Ambitions

CEO – Richard Dinan, commented: “We are delighted with the UK test firings at COTEC. It is a hugely significant moment and we are proud this rocket is built in the UK. To have a British rocket test on UK soil is novel.

“Pulsar is among a very few companies around the world to have built and tested these technologies. We have a team of fantastic scientists with a wealth of experience to thank for these milestones. We have also drawn talent from some of the UK’s top universities who have begun working with and testing our plasma thrusters at campus facilities. We are extremely proud of these achievements and look forward to expanding our network with the British and European space community with our hardware demonstration later this month in Switzerland.”

Pulsar’s ‘green’ (non-toxic) hybrid rocket engine combusts nitrous oxide (N2O) oxidiser and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) fuel and oxygen.  It is a new model that enables Pulsar to manufacture these compact rocket engines at record lead times, with an enhanced safety factor as due to the design, these engines have relatively benign failure modes in comparison with conventional liquid propulsion engines.

A hybrid rocket engine has the following main components and requires control of only one fluid – a liquid oxidiser during testing. Liquid oxidiser is fed under a regulated pressure through a control valve into a combustion chamber containing a technology as proprietary.

Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine
Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine – Credit Pulsar Fusion Ltd

Pulsar Fusion received UK government funding in September 2021 to further develop its HET (Hall Effect Thruster) plasma satellite engines, capable of 20 km / second particle exhaust speeds. These Pulsar thrusters have recently been tested at Harwell’s facilities where they withstood 20g’s of vibration, simulating a rocket launch. Pulsar now seeks to IOD test these engines. (In Orbit Demonstration).

Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine
Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine

The vision:

The company’s ultimate milestone is to produce a hyper-speed propulsion engine using nuclear fusion technologies of which it has been researching for nine years which could eventually be used for interplanetary travel – and which scientists say could halve the journey time from Earth to Mars. A first prototype is expected in 2025.

Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine
Pulsar Hybrid Rocket Engine Test Firing.

About the company:

Pulsar Fusion is an advanced propulsion technologies company. It manufactures compact and efficient satellite engines for use in orbit, and liquid rocket engines for launch and atmospheric propulsion.

By 2025 – the company wants to develop nuclear fusion propulsion engines for static demonstration.

By 2027 – the company wants to manufacture a nuclear fusion rocket engine to be launched and tested in orbit.

Pulsar’s fusion propulsion systems are enabled by the technology generated in the rocket engine programme.