On the 24/05/03, 19 members of the club visited Starchaser and were given the guided tour. The visit came about from a request by members to visit Starchaser so we made contact and got it organized!

Members made there own way to Starchaser and we all signed in at reception. We were then guided through the main assembly/display area into the lecture theatre where Robin Hague and Piotr Starczewski of Starchaser showed us a couple of short films about Starchaser and their aims and then gave a presentation on current plans and propulsion programme's.

The Starchaser team consists of 16 full time people and around 30 volunteers. It was stated that the current plan for the X Prize vehicle propulsion system was to use a cluster of 5 of the fully developed Churchill 2 engines (see below for current status) firing for around 60-70 seconds, and that this cluster would be tested at the Buxton site or Spadeadam.
Flights of the vehicle would be made from Woomera. The presentations were followed by a Q and A session. We were then invited out into the main assembly area to look around and talk to the various staff members present.
For many of us the most interesting items on display were the various Hybrid motors and Liquid Propellant Engines.

Items on view

Isaac - Hybrid Rocket Motor, Propulsion Engineer Robin Hague

Propellants - LOX (Liquid Oxygen) and a novel form of HTPB (Hydroxy Terminated PolyButadiene), the motor produced 1.25 tonnes of thrust during a test on the 04/10/2002

Churchill 1 - Bi Propellant Rocket Engine, Propulsion Engineer Anthony Haynes.

Propellants - LOX and Kerosene.

Engine uses regenerative cooling utilizing the fuel as a coolant and is pressure fed.

Demonstrated performance - 420 kg of thrust.

Churchill 2 -Bi Propellant Rocket Engine, Propulsion Engineer Anthony Haynes.

Propellants - LOX and Kerosene.

Engine uses regenerative cooling, utilizing the fuel as a coolant, additional cooling is provided by fuel film cooling of the chamber (8%) and throat (2%).
This engine is also pressure fed. Ignition by spark plug. The injector uses a Triplet design where for every LOX injector orifice there are two fuel ones.
Tank pressures were quoted as 900 psi with combustion chamber pressure being between 300 to 400 psi.
Specific Impulse in these early test runs was quoted as approx 180 sec's. with the
aim being 230 sec's.
Performance figures were obtained by weighing the propellant tanks before and
after firings.

Current demonstrated performance - 1.7 tonnes of thrust for 25 seconds.

All propulsion system live firings took place at the HSE site at Buxton

Propellant pressurization and feed system.

A single Nitrogen pressurization system is used for feeding both the Oxidizer in the case of the Hybrid and the Oxidizer and Fuel in the case of the Bi Prop's.

A variety of Rockets were on display including the large Nova rocket as well as a capsule mock up and a mobile control room.

After extensive chatting with members of the Starchaser team. We all tucked into a buffet and of course continued chatting. The day was rounded off with another video.

Thanks to Steve and all the Starchaser team for their hospitality. A very enjoyable and interesting day.