Oxygen-Rich Staged Combustion (ORSC)
A rocket engine combustion cycle where the preburner burns fuel with a large excess of oxygen, producing an oxygen-rich gas that drives the turbopump before entering the main combustion chamber. ORSC enables higher chamber pressures and specific impulse than fuel-rich cycles. It is used in Russian RD-180 and SpaceX Raptor engines. The technology is relevant to advanced propulsion programs that overlap with fusion research institutions.
Verified Primary Sources
- → LANL FissionPlasmaPropulsion 1995 (p. 1) — 1995 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → NASA EPPP Propulsion 1999 (p. 1) — 1999 — National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- → NASA EPPP Propulsion 1999 (p. 3) — 1999 — National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- →
- → NASA UHCL Plasma Aerospace 1999 (p. 39) — 1999 — National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Related Terms
Timeline Mentions (6)
Project ORION Terminated
Project ORION is terminated primarily for political reasons, ending early research into external pulsed plasma propulsion despite promising technical results.
Fission Plasma Propulsion Research
R.A. Gerwin, R.A. Nebel, and D.I. Poston present research on using spheromak configurations for magnetic control of gas-core fission plasma propulsion at the 31st AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference.
EPPP and GABRIEL Framework Proposed
NASA researchers propose External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion (EPPP) and the GABRIEL evolutionary framework as a viable path for human exploration beyond Mars.
MSNW ELF thruster and NASA FRC propulsion
MSNW LLC's FRC-based ELF thruster with NASA funding.
M2P2 Propulsion Prospects Analyzed
Kelly A. Wallenstein evaluates Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion (M2P2), a concept by Robert Winglee using plasma to inflate magnetic sails.
AARO FY2023 report: orbs are #1 UAP morphology with plasma signatures
25% of UAPs are orbs. No thermal exhaust. Intermittent radar/thermal. Consistent with plasma platforms.