Design and test firing of a dual bidirectional double vortex bipropellant rocket engine

It is widely recognised that there is a global need for cheaper launchers for small satellites, and there is considerable global effort led primarily by private enterprise to develop these. One way to achieve these lower costs is to use cheaper materials, usually by sacrificing some of the performance benefit. A dual birectional double vortex bipropellant engine has been designed that confines combustion to the core of the rocket engine, thereby maintaining much cooler wall temperatures, enabling the employment of cheaper materials with lower melting temperatures. This paper reports on the design and successful test firing of such an engine with a nominal thrust of 20N, the first time that such an engine has been developed in an educational setting.