The optimal size of a rocket engine nozzle is achieved when the exit pressure equals ambient pressure, which decreases with increasing altitude. Classical bell-nozzle rocket engine can only be optimized for a single altitude. The aerospike engine on the other hand is a type of rocket engine that maintains its aerodynamic efficiency across a wide range of altitudes.
Designing aerospike engines is not easy due to high temperature built up on their aerospikes. Latest 3d printing technologies allowed effectively cooled aerospike engines to be manufactured.
I am taking this idea further by combining it with my sliding rocket and low bypass engine designs. In the sliding rocket design, the second stage of the rocket slides inside the first stage and pushes the propellent into the combustion chamber at high pressure. I propose addition of air canals between the sliding rockets. The air entering will be guided to the center of the aerospike engine. There will be no aerospike section at the center of the engine but a one-way air inlet from sliding gab. The flowing air will guide the thrust generating gases like a physical aerospike. As the rocket accelerates, more air will be pushed out of the inlet improving the aerospike effect. The additional inlet gas will contribute to the total thrust of the engine like in low-bypass turbofan engines improving the efficiency of the engine.
The engine I propose will not be gimbled. Instead, multiple engines will be differentially throttled to achieve thrust vectoring.
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