Wind tunnel tests of rocket stage landing ignition using a hot exhaust jet fuelled by hydrogen-oxygen combustion
Wind tunnel tests of rocket stage landing ignition using a hot exhaust jet fuelled by hydrogen-oxygen combustion
The video shows a wind tunnel test simulating the landing ignition of a rocket stage. This final braking manoeuvre helps to gently lower a rocket stage to the ground shortly before landing by igniting the engine in the opposite direction of travel. In this test, hydrogen and oxygen were burned in the wind tunnel model to recreate the hot exhaust jet of a rocket engine. This unique experiment, part of the RETALT project, marks the first time such an ignition has been tested against airflow in a wind tunnel.
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