English

Abstract

Special attention is then given to altitude-adaptive nozzle concepts, which have recently received new interest in the space industry. The reduction of Earth-to-orbit launch costs in conjunction with an increase in launcher reliability and operational efficiency are the key demands on future space transportation systems, like single-stage-to- orbit vehicles (SSTO). The realization of these vehicles strongly depends on the performance of the engines, which should deliver high performance with low system complexity Current research results are presented for dual-bell nozzles. The main part of the paper addresses dual-bell nozzle concepts with improvements in performance as compared to conventional nozzle achieved by altitude adaptation and, thus, by minimizing losses caused by over- or under expansion.