Launch Experiment of Microwave Rocket Equipped with Six-Staged Reed Valve Air-Breathing System

Launch Experiment of Microwave Rocket Equipped with Six-Staged Reed Valve Air-Breathing System

Millimeter-wave-supported detonation (MSD) is a unique detonation phenomenon driven by a supersonically propagating ionization front, sustained by intense millimeter-wave beams. Microwave Rocket, which utilizes MSD to generate thrust from atmospheric air in a pulse detonation engine (PDE) cycle, is...

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Main Authors: Kosuke Irie, Ayuto Manabe, Tomonori Nakatani, Tatsuki Kinoshita, Toshinobu Nomura, Matthias Weiand, Kimiya Komurasaki, Takahiro Shinya, Ryosuke Ikeda, Keito Ishita, Taku Nakai, Ken Kajiwara, Yasuhisa Oda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Aerospace
Subjects:
advanced propulsion
beamed energy propulsion
gyrotron
space transportation
wireless power transfer
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/7/577
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Summary:Millimeter-wave-supported detonation (MSD) is a unique detonation phenomenon driven by a supersonically propagating ionization front, sustained by intense millimeter-wave beams. Microwave Rocket, which utilizes MSD to generate thrust from atmospheric air in a pulse detonation engine (PDE) cycle, is a promising low-cost alternative to conventional chemical propulsion systems for space transportation. However, insufficient air intake during repetitive PDE cycles has limited achievable thrust performance. To address this issue, a model equipped with a six-stage reed valve system (36 valves in total) was developed to ensure sufficient air intake, which measured 500 mm in length, 28 mm in radius, and 539 g in weight. Launch demonstration experiments were conducted using a 170 GHz, 550 kW gyrotron developed at the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST). Continuous thrust was successfully generated by irradiating up to 50 pulses per experiment at each frequency between 75 and 150 Hz, in 25 Hz increments, corresponding duty cycles ranging from 0.09 to 0.18. A maximum thrust of 9.56 N and a momentum coupling coefficient <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>C</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>m</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> of 116 N/MW were obtained. These values represent a fourfold increase compared to previous launch experiments without reed valves, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the reed valve configuration in enhancing thrust performance.
ISSN:2226-4310

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