Nitrous Oxide Ethane Ethylene Engine

NEE propulsion would have many commercial spacecraft applications. The NEE would enable the first non-toxic storable stage, and as such would find many customers who would value it as a cost-effective alternative to the current choice of toxic hypergol or cryogenic propulsion. With its high performance and indefinite space storability, the NEE engine would be ideal as a lunar ascent/descent reaction control propulsion system. The NEE is particularly advantageous if used on manned spacecraft such as the lunar ascent/descent vehicle, the MPCV, or vehicles used in conjunction with manned spacecraft (such as free-flying inspection telerobots used in support of the ISS or MPCV), as in that case the N2O can be used for NEE bipropellant ??V propulsion, nitrous oxide monopropellant low-thrust RCS, and to provide a storable reserve supply of crew breathing gas.

Non-NASA commercial applications would include myriad of the propulsion chores for small satellites and large satellites as well, if designers of larger satellites wanted to take advantage of the compactness and non-toxicity of the NEE propulsion system. The NEE engine could be used for onboard spacecraft propulsion or for dedicated upper and transfer stages supporting every type of mission. The NEE engine is the highest performing non-toxic storable propellant combination that exists, and with a performance that matches the increasingly shunned toxic hypergols, is sure to find many customers in every niche from microsatellites to missiles and launch vehicles. More »