Modular Booster

From CSTART Wiki

The Modular Booster is a unitary hybrid fueled booster that is being developed for CSTART's CLLARE project. Multiple rocket designs are based on the modular booster concept including the Selene 1, Selene 2, Selene 3, and Selene 4. The booster is designed to be produced for as low of a cost as possible while ensuring that it provides adequate safety. The nozzle assembly is interchangeable so that different stages can be optimized for the conditions that they will be operating in (sea level vs. vacuum).

[edit] Advantages of a Modular Design

There are several reasons for the modular design. A modular design provides some economies of scale and makes scaling our booster for different payloads and missions easier. It should also simplify construction by reducing the size of the things we need to build to merely "quite large". Finally, it makes single port hybrid engine designs more workable. Large hybrid rockets typically have to be multi-port designs because, after a certain point, the surface area to volume ratio is too low for a single, circular port. This is bad because it results in structural weaknesses in the engines, more complicated oxidizer injection and, usually, wasted fuel. Using a liquefying fuel, such as paraffin wax, helps increase the size of engine that single, circular ports work for, but a rocket the size we would need if we didn't go with a modular design would probably still be impractical. A modular design may allow us to use single port rockets with a liquefying fuel, which would be a very good thing.

[edit] Dimensions

The optimum dimensions of the booster have not been determined. It has been proposed that an outside diameter of 100 centimeters and a height of 6 meters be used.

[edit] Thrust

Unknown