The rumored problem with hot gas thrusters on Starship is the relatively low pressure of the propellant tanks. Electric pumps solve that, but add complexity. But what about pulsed thrusters?
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I'm imagining something like this:
Supply => main valve => regulator => check valve => accumulator => Tesla valve => injector
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Potential issues would be vibrations (obviously) and controlling the mixture ratio.
If the thrusters could be made small enough, vibrations might be minimized by clustering, with igniters timed so there's a continuous combustion.
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Now that I think about it, the average specific impulse of all this probably wouldn't be much better than a thruster that's just pressure-fed.
Oct 1, 2026 · 11:18 AM UTC
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