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0 pointsle-mark2y ago0 comments

> there is currently an ongoing industry-wide exodus from hydrogen to methane for the same reason.

Exodus seems a bit of an overstatement. Other than spacex who else has or is planning to develop a methane engine? And other than SSME and Vulcain which other widely used engines used H2?

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Tuna-Fish2y ago

What Karellen said, but also ArianeSpace (Prometheus) and Landspace (TQ-12).

It is very hard for a hydrogen-fueled rocket to be cost-competitive against a methane-fueled one. Not strictly because of the cost of the fuel, but because of the cost of everything else that LH requires that LCH4 doesn't.

Karellen2y ago

> who else has or is planning to develop a methane engine?

BO's New Glenn first stage, RocketLab's Neutron, and Relativity Space's Terran 1/Terran R, are all/will all be methane.

> which other widely used engines used H2?

Ariane 5 and 6, and the upper stages of previous Ariane rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_propellant#Current_cryo...

Edit: Long March 9 will be mostly methane, with hydrogen upper stage.

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