The rocket self-ignites to use its body as fuel.

The Ouroborous-3 rocket can self-ignite its HDPE plastic body, replenishing fuel for the mission and reducing space debris.

A research team at the University of Glasgow has developed a rocket capable of self-igniting its body for fuel and is testing it at Machrihanish Air Force Base in England. The research was presented at the AIAA Science and Technology Forum in Orlando, Florida, USA, on January 10th.

In the seven decades since humans launched satellites, the space around Earth has been littered with space debris. These fast-moving pieces of debris pose a significant threat to satellites, spacecraft, and astronauts. While many expert groups have developed methods for removing space debris, a research team led by Professor Patrick Harkness at the University of Glasgow has developed a rocket that uses its own body as fuel, thus eliminating the need to discard parts into space.

Harkness's team collaborated with researchers at Dnipro National University in Ukraine and tested a self-contained rocket (a rocket that "eats" itself). The concept of a self-contained rocket was first proposed and patented in 1938. Traditional rockets often continue carrying empty, unusable fuel tanks, but self-contained rockets can use them to refuel for the mission. This capability allows rockets to carry more payloads into space than traditional rockets, paving the way for launching multiple nanosatellites simultaneously instead of waiting and splitting them into multiple launches.

Harkness's team named their self-feeding rocket engine Ouroborous-3 and used high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubing as supplemental fuel to burn alongside the main propellant – liquid propane and oxygen. Waste heat from the main fuel combustion melted the tubing and fed it into the combustion chamber along with the main fuel.

The prototype rocket was first test-fired in 2018. But with the collaboration of Kingston University, the research team has now demonstrated that it is possible to use a more powerful liquid propellant and a plastic tube that can withstand the forces of delivering it to the rocket engine.

In tests conducted at Machrihanish Air Force Base, Ouroborous-3 generated 100 Newtons of thrust. The prototype also demonstrated stable combustion and its body provided one-fifth of the total fuel required. This was a crucial step in the development of a practically operational rocket engine.

Thu Thao (According to Interesting Engineering )

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