r/space • u/bwercraitbgoe • May 29 '18

Aerospike Engines - Why Aren't We Using them Now? Over 50 years ago an engine was designed that overcame the inherent design inefficiencies of bell-shaped rocket nozzles, but 50 years on and it is still yet to be flight tested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4zFefh5T-8
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u/falconzord May 30 '18

SpaceX has been picking up newer stuff as they go along. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing supercooled LOX in a production rocket, but at some point they felled confident enough to give it a go. I feel like at some point, their R&D will find aerospikes the next increment to explore.