Developed and expanded from the work presented at the New Energetic Materials and Propulsion Techniques for Space Exploration workshop in June 2014, this book contains new scientific results, up-to-date reviews, and inspiring perspectives in a number of areas related to the energetic aspects of chemical rocket propulsion. This collection covers the entire life of energetic materials from their conceptual formulation to practical manufacturing; it includes coverage of theoretical and experimental ballistics, performance properties, as well as laboratory-scale and full system-scale, handling, hazards, environment, ageing, and disposal. Chemical Rocket Propulsion is a unique work, where a selection of accomplished experts from the pioneering era of space propulsion and current technologists from the most advanced international laboratories discuss the future of chemical rocket propulsion for access to, and exploration of, space. It will be of interest to both postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students in aerospace engineering, and practicing aeronautical engineers and designers, especially those with an interest in propulsion, as well as researchers in energetic materials.

Equips students with an up-to-date practical knowledge of rocket propulsion, numerous homework problems, and online self-study materials.

The book follows a unified approach to present the basic principles of rocket propulsion in concise and lucid form. This textbook comprises of ten chapters ranging from brief introduction and elements of rocket propulsion, aerothermodynamics to solid, liquid and hybrid propellant rocket engines with chapter on electrical propulsion. Worked out examples are also provided at the end of chapter for understanding uncertainty analysis. This book is designed and developed as an introductory text on the fundamental aspects of rocket propulsion for both undergraduate and graduate students. It is also aimed towards practicing engineers in the field of space engineering. This comprehensive guide also provides adequate problems for audience to understand intricate aspects of rocket propulsion enabling them to design and develop rocket engines for peaceful purposes.

This book is intended for students and engineers who design and develop liquid-propellant rocket engines, offering them a guide to the theory and practice alike. It first presents the fundamental concepts (the generation of thrust, the gas flow through the combustion chamber and the nozzle, the liquid propellants used, and the combustion process) and then qualitatively and quantitatively describes the principal components involved (the combustion chamber, nozzle, feed systems, control systems, valves, propellant tanks, and interconnecting elements). The book includes extensive data on existing engines, typical values for design parameters, and worked-out examples of how the concepts discussed can be applied, helping readers integrate them in their own work. Detailed bibliographical references (including books, articles, and items from the “gray literature”) are provided at the end of each chapter, together with information on valuable resources that can be found online. Given its scope, the book will be of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students of aerospace engineering.

The purpose of this book is to discuss, at the graduate level, the methods of performance prediction for chemical rocket propulsion. A pedagogical presentation of such methods has been unavailable thus far and this text, based upon lectures, fills this gap. The first part contains the energy-minimization to calculate the propellant-combustion composition and the subsequent computation of rocket performance. While incremental analysis is for high performance solid motors, equilibrium-pressure analysis is for low performance ones. Both are detailed in the book's second part for the prediction of ignition and tail-off transients, and equilibrium operation. Computer codes, adopting the incremental analysis along with erosive burning effect, are included. The material is encouraged to be used and presented at lectures. Senior undergraduate and graduate students in universities, as well as practicing engineers and scientists in rocket industries, form the readership.