There are several improved variants for all these engines. There were the RS-25A/B/C/D for the RS-25 engine. There was the RS-68A for the RS-68. And there was the F-1A for the F-1. Plus many other variants which were studied and never quite finished testing and production.
China's Space Program Thread II
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
But I think non of them has such vast "improvement" steps like Merlins. They are more akin to the variants of YF-100.
Oh yes they do. In the RS-25 (SSME) for example they redesigned the powerhead, the turbopumps, and the combustion chamber.
The Block II SSME is basically a new engine.
There were even plans to switch the nozzle to a channel wall nozzle design with Block III but that got cancelled after the Columbia Shuttle accident.
Later variants of the SSME had integrated diagnostics electronics inside the engine and were much more reliable. Early engines required the engine to be disassembled after each flight and inspected, and they kept increasing time between inspections on later variants. Component lifetime increased. Later variants could run at 113% power level.
The Block II SSME is basically a new engine.
There were even plans to switch the nozzle to a channel wall nozzle design with Block III but that got cancelled after the Columbia Shuttle accident.
Later variants of the SSME had integrated diagnostics electronics inside the engine and were much more reliable. Early engines required the engine to be disassembled after each flight and inspected, and they kept increasing time between inspections on later variants. Component lifetime increased. Later variants could run at 113% power level.
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As for the people here who wanted YF-100 enhanced variants to happen sooner. You just have to look at the number of flights. Quite often upgraded variants are only made after either a substantial number of flights is done which identifies bottlenecks in the current design, or mission requirements change.
This actually has solid commercial applications if scaled up and human rated properly the cheapest way you can experience zero g these days is with NASA's parabolic flights and they cost roughly USD 8k+ this would be inherently cheaper and safe, RIP to Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin's suborbital tourism
From the video it looks like a giant coilgun in disguise. A little sad it wasn't a railgun though.
Quickie
Colonel
Is there a version of Merlin Rocket Engine that is 190t?
As far as I know, the latest variant is over 80t, sea level.
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the 190t is RS-25 from Aerojet Rocketdyne.
by78
General
Galactic Energy has completed verification of its landing control algorithms by using a scale rocket called Firebird-1 (火鸟一号).
