Bandit

  • Propellants: LOX/Kerosene

    Chamber Pressure: 200psia

    Thrust: 300lbf

    Specific Impulse: ~240s

    Feed System: Electric Pumps

  • An aluminum heatsink TCA is baseline due to cost constraints while regen is deferred for a future iteration. The heatsink is expected to support hotfires of 2-4s duration.

  • Powered by a 1300W brushless DC motor, a modified hydraulic gear pump will supply kerosene to the main injector, igniter, and motor cooling circuits.

  • The LOX pump is a more traditional centrifugal pump powered by a 4200W brushless DC motor.

  • The igniter uses a spark device to ignite a small flow of propellant from the pumps, making a jet of hot gas for igniting the main combustion chamber.

Bandit is a small, electric pump fed, liquid-propellant rocket engine. Shown to the left is an early assembly of the engine. high-level design info can be seen above. Bandit is not intended to fly on a vehicle and is more of a hobbyist exercise in propulsion design and test. Below there is a blog thing where I upload periodic updates.

Development Milestones

March 2023 - Pathfinder electric centrifugal pump testing

May 2023 - First torch igniter hotfire

September 2023 - First full power fuel pump test

October 2023 - First LOX pump tests with water

November 2023 - TCA manufacturing

January 2024 - Test stand build, ground software, activation

February 2024 - Torch igniter hotfire campaign

May 2024 - LOX pump & injector testing with water

LOX Pump Circa 4/8/24

Site Director Observing Test Stand

Click Below to Read Progress Update Articles!!

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