The propulsion system proposed herein represents a low-cost technology that can be integrated into a number of spacecraft designs with the ultimate goal of providing high-performance liquid bipropellant rocket engines for challenging in-space missions. The use of LOX for regenerative cooling of the main combustion chamber enables propellant combinations, engine cycles and / or operating points not currently available for in-space missions. The availability of on-board pressurization for higher chamber pressure operation (without the excessive weight penalty of propellant storage tanks), can further result in a significant increase in the capability for missions requiring large Delta-V over a short period (such as sample return, powered landings and ascent, orbit insertion and change, etc.), thereby easing implementation of space borne operations through a combination of reduced size, weight, improved reliability and lower cost. Non-NASA commercial applications include: 1. Upper stage propulsion. 2. Apogee kick motors for small- and medium-scale spacecraft. 3. Standalone non-aerospace applications of the pump technology in industrial and desalination settings for water and cryogenics, and as an alternative to other high-pressure liquid pumps.
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