The hybrid rocket

[bearnard97]

Do you have any information about so- called hybrid rockets? The only think I know about them, is that this type of rocket is uncrewed and guided and used for test in under microgravity conditions. I wanna know why it is exactly hybrid and are there some crewed rockets like that?

 

[Hobbes]

A "Hybrid rocket" is a type of propulsion: the fuel is solid, but the oxidiser is a liquid or gas. It's called a hybrid because it lies between the two main types of rocket engines:
- solid rocket motors contain a solid substance that has both fuel and oxidiser
- in a liquid rocket engine, fuel and oxidiser are both liquids.

Hybrid rocket motors can be used for any type of mission, but only a few are in use today. SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo are manned craft that use hybrid rockets.

 

[Archibald]

this type of rocket is uncrewed and guided and used for test in under microgravity conditions.

Sounding rocket maybe ? they can be hybrid rockets as described in the post above.

Sounding rocket - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Richard N]

Hybrid rockets have a safety advantage over solid rockets because they can be throttled or stopped by metering the gas oxidizer. Solid fuel rockets do not stop until they burn all their propellant or are destroyed.

 

[bearnard97]

this type of rocket is uncrewed and guided and used for test in under microgravity conditions.

Sounding rocket maybe ? they can be hybrid rockets as described in the post above.

Sounding rocket - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The term ``hybrid`` has been given to this rocket because it combines solid Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) fuel and 90% Hydrogen Peroxide (H202) liquid oxidiser. This rocket has been build by a private space company from Scotland and it`s called
Sky Hy

 

[Archibald]

Hybrid rocket is a kind of rocket propulsion, as mentionned, which mix solid-fuel (not unlike fertilizer) with a liquid oxidizer
- N2O (better known as laughing gas !)
- or H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide - that hair bleaching stuff)
- or liquid oxygen.

Sounding rockets are science rockets not going into orbit - just up and down.

To go into orbit takes a speed of 9 km per second (or 30 000 feet per second - metric versus imperial turf war - how I hate you).

Any rocket going to a lower speed will just go up and down, on a ballistic arc like a cannonball.

Sounding rockets top speed is (usually) 1 to 2 km/s so they never go into orbit.

Skyrora starts with sounding rockets to gather some experience, because rockets and space are hard, even today. Later they will probably build a larger rocket to try and put satellites into orbit.

 

[Archibald]

Incidentally - allow me to present myself... I'm a 38 years old, space nerd and aviation buff since the craddle.

You can ask me whatever question about the space program, I'll do my best to answer it... I've been hooked to that stuff for decades.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Solid fuel rockets do not stop until they burn all their propellant or are destroyed.

Untrue. A number of solids have been designed and built that can throttle *and* stop on command. It's difficult, tricky, heavy, expensive and usually nowhere near worth the effort, but it's entirely possible.

 

[Zoo Tycoon]

“Solid fuel rockets do not stop until they burn all their propellant”

Untrue, but a simple shut off is not that complicated ;- Polaris A1, solid fuel second stage, required a very precise engine shut down even when not out of fuel. So it had two det-cord operated blow out panels each side of the motor case. At the exact time necessary, bang and the thrust goes away.

Throttling a solid, is tricky, heavy and expensive.