RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(Autonomous Institute, Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University,

Belagavi) MSR Nagar, MSRIT Post, Bengaluru-560054

Seminar (MESE1)
report on
Autophage Engine

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirement for the award
of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Submitted by

K Vinita Babu
1MS18M073
7 Sem ‘B’ Section
th

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BENGALURU
560054

2021-2022

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 RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
(Autonomous Institute, Affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belagavi) Bengaluru-560 054

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DECLARATION
I HERBY DECLARE that the Seminar topic entitled “Autophage Engine” is an
original preparation done by myself and have not plagiarized the efforts of anyone
else. This presentation is made by K Vinita Babu (1MS18ME073) in partial fulfilment
of the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering
during the Academic Year 2021-2022. It is certified that all corrections/suggestions
have been incorporated in the report submitted to the department. To the best of my
knowledge, this report does not contain any work which has been previously carried
out by others and the report has been approved as it satisfies the academic
requirements in respect of Seminar – MESE1 (1:0:0) prescribed for the Bachelor of
Engineering Degree.

Signature of the student with date

Seminar Examiners:

Name Signature with Date

1.

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2. __________________ ________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION………………….………………………..…………..04
1.1 SPACE DEBRIS COMPOSITION……………….…………………………….......05

2. HISTORY OF ROCKETS…………...………………………………….06
2.1 ROCKETS IN SPACE FLIGHTS………………………………………………..….08
2.2 EARLY ROCKETS………………………………………………………………..…09
2.3 APOLLO ERA…………………………………………………………………..…….10
2.4 ROCKETS OF THE FUTURE……………………………………………………....12

3. CLASSIFICATION…………………………………...………………....14
3.1 CHEMICAL ROCKETS…………..…………………………………………………14

4. AUTOPHAGE ENGINE……………………………..…………………15
4.1 MEANING………………………………………………………….………………...15
4.2 MECHANISM……………………………………………………….……………….16

5. EXPERIMENTATION AND METHODOLOGY……………..……..19

6. MILESTONES OF INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMME…………..…...21

7. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………..….….23
7.2 CHALLENGES………………………………………………………………..….......23
7.3 NEW SPACE ERA……………………………………………………………..……..24

8. REFERENCES………………………………………………………...25

FIGURES
Figure 1: Launch of Rocket
Figure 2: Rocket Components
Figure 3: Rocket structure
Figure 4: Fuels and Oxidizers used
Figure 5: Cross sectional view of rocket structure

TABLES
Table 1: Properties of Aluminium Alloys
Table 2: Characteristics of fuels and oxidizers

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 1. INTRODUCTION

With the launching of Sputnik 1 in the 1957, the space technology has rocketed and touched
great skies. More than seven thousand payloads have been launched into the orbit which has
made communication, receiving and transmitting of signals, sharing information across the
globe easier and simpler. Though Earth is known for various resources for remote sensing
activities, metrology, defence applications[1], etc. We should keep in mind how advancing
space technology will have drastic effects in the space environment thereby being a huge risk
for various space satellites, space shuttles or even astronauts on a spacewalk. The region
called as, ‘Protozone’ or near-space, is the hub of many activities such as testing of
hypersonic flights, space tourism, hypersonic missile launches/stations, broadcasting, remote
sensing and GIS, telecommunication. These applications should be properly managed to
avoid any collision or scientific data loss. The space junk includes satellites of all shape and
size that have been launched, their sensor components or materials. All these objects are
revolving around the Earth of about 700km to 35000km distance with speed ranging from
5km/sec to 12km/sec. Space debris mitigation became essentially important, when an
operational telephony satellite collided with an expired Russian Satellite, Cosmos 2251 [2].
This collision resulted in a huge debris clouds and the space debris count increased up to at
least several hundred. Thus space debris consisting of burnt up rocket fragments, expired
satellites, slag from rocket motors, remains of variety of science experiments and various
other small particles which may or may not be identified from the Earth [3]. Various
mitigation approaches have been introduced to avoid increase in the space debris like,
addition of a shield like structure to protect the satellites from small space debris, or the
technique of manoeuvring the debris towards the Earth’s atmosphere and many more. These
techniques are necessary for satellites in highly congested altitude where survival of the
satellite is the ultimate goal. [1b]The main objective for space debris control is to make it cost
effective because the cleaning up of space doesn’t add value to the space advancement or
space exploration; rather it is merely used for enhancing the use of space for better
application in space technology. These techniques have to be implemented from the Leo orbit
to the geostationary orbits as well as other orbits where the satellite congestion is more [4].

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It’s been stated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European
Space Agency (ESA) that even without any new launches, a new collision of the existing
satellites would give rise to hundreds of particles [5].

1.1 SPACE DEBRIS COMPOSITION

With the advancement of space era, the accumulation of the expired satellites contributing in
the space junk has increased. We know that among the various materials present in the space
debris like, stainless steel, Kevlar, Aluminium, titanium alloys, it has been observed that the
majority of components of space industries uses aluminium alloys, etc. In this paper mainly
the metallic debris has been focussed upon. These alloys are a mixture of Aluminium,
Titanium, Nickel, Carbon and their proportion in this mixture is tabulated along with their
mechanical properties.

As tabulated in Table 1, the material composition is:

(1) 2014 (T6) [6] comprises of different materials like Al (90.4-95%), Cr (max 0.1%), Cu
(3.9-5%), Fe (max 0.7%), Mg (0.2-0.8%), Mn (0.4-1.2%), Si (0.5-1.2%), Ti (max
0.15%), Zn (max 0.25%).

(2) 2219 (T62) [7] comprises of Al (93%), Cu (6.3%), Mn (0.3%), Zr (0.18%), V

(0.10%), Ti (0.06%), Si( max 0.2%), Fe (max 0.3%), Mg (max 0.02%).

(3) 2024 (T4) [8] metal consists of Al (90.7-94.7%), Cr (max 0.1%), Cu (3.8-4.9%), Fe
(max 0.5%), Mg (1.2-1.8%), Mn (0.3-0.9%), Si (max 0.5%), Ti (max 0.15%), Zn (max
0.25%)

(4) Stainless Steel 301 Grade (T74) [9] is composed of Cr (16-18%), Mn (2%), Si (1%),
Ni (6-8%), P (0.045%), S (0.03%), C (0.15%), N (0.10%).

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Table 1: Properties of Aluminium Alloys FIGURE 1: Launch of Rocket

Name of Ultimate Yield Melting Elastic

Alloy Tensile Strength Point Modulus
(Temper) Strength (MPa*) (° C) (GPa#)
(MPa*)
2014 483 415 507 72.4
(T6) to
638

543
2219 414 290 to 70 - 80
(T62) 643

502
2024 469 24 to 73.1
(T4) 638

Stainless 1399
Steel 515 205 to 212
301 1421
Grade

*MPa- Mega Pascal # GPa- Giga Pascal

2. HISTORY OF ROCKETS

The principles of rocketry were first tested more than 2,000 years ago, but it's really only
been in the past 70 years or so that these machines have been used for applications in space
exploration. Today, rockets routinely take spacecraft to other planets in our solar system.
Closer to Earth, rockets carrying supplies up to the International Space Station can return to
Earth, land on their own and be used again.
In the modern era, those who work in spaceflight today often acknowledge three “fathers of
rocketry” who helped push the first rockets into space. Only one of the three survived long
enough to see rockets being used for space exploration.
Russian Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) published what is now known as the “rocket
equation” in 1903. The equation concerns relationships between rocket speed and mass, as
well as how fast the gas is leaving when it exits the propellant system's exhaust and how
much propellant there is. Tsiolkovsky also published a theory of multistage rockets in 1929.

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Robert Goddard (1882-1945) was an American physicist who sent the first liquid-fueled
rocket aloft in Auburn, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1926. He had two U.S. patents for using
a liquid-fueled rocket and also for a two- or three-stage rocket using solid fuel, according to
NASA.
Hermann Oberth (1894-1989) was born in Romania and later moved to Germany. His legacy
is tainted by the fact that he helped develop the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during World
War II; the rocket was used for devastating bombings on London. Oberth lived for decades
after space exploration began and saw rockets bring people all the way to the moon and
watched the reusable space shuttle heft crews into space again and again.

Sixty years ago, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go to space. Just three
years prior, the Soviets launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to go to space. Within
two years, ten more men and the first woman (cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova) would join
them by going to orbit as well.
Within a decade of Gagarin's historic flight, several more astronauts/cosmonauts would go to
space, twelve would walk on the Moon, and dozens of robotic spacecraft would be sent to
explore Mercury, Venus, Mars, and beyond. The Space Age was officially in full swing, and
things have never been the same.
At every juncture in this tremendous leap was the science of rocketry. While the term "rocket
science" is synonymous with genius, it actually has some pretty humble origins. In the
Middle Ages, rockets were basically tubes packed with gunpowder designed to terrorize
enemies with their horrible combination of noise and explosive force.
Today, rockets are responsible for deploying everything from telecommunication and
internet satellites to astronauts and space stations. Beyond Earth orbit, they are used to send
robotic explorer missions to every planet in the Solar System. Looking ahead, they may be
the key to our "interplanetary" future or be replaced altogether!
Such is the nature of rockets. They are a delivery vehicle, and they are delivering our species
to new a whole new phase of development. What we do with them once we get there (reuse,
repurpose, or toss aside) remains to be seen.

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 2.1 ROCKETS IN SPACEFLIGHT

Following World War II, several German rocket scientists emigrated to both the Soviet
Union and the United States, assisting those countries in the Space Race of the 1960s. In that
contest, both countries vied to demonstrate technological and military superiority, using
space as the frontier.

Rockets were also used to take measurements of radiation in the upper atmosphere after
nuclear tests. The nuclear explosions mostly ceased after 1963's Limited Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty.

While rockets worked well within Earth's atmosphere, figuring out how to send them into
space was difficult. Rocket engineering was in its infancy and computers weren't powerful
enough to perform simulations. This meant that numerous flight tests ended with the rockets
dramatically exploding seconds or minutes after leaving the launch-pad.

With time and experience, however, progress was made. A rocket was used for the first time
to send something into space on the Sputnik mission, which launched a Soviet satellite on
Oct. 4, 1957. After a few failed attempts, the United States used a Jupiter-C rocket to heft
its Explorer 1 satellite into space on Feb. 1, 1958.
It took several more years before either country felt confident enough to use rockets to send
people into space; both countries started with animals (monkeys and dogs). Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, leaving Earth on April 12, 1961,
aboard a Vostok-K rocket for a multiorbit flight. About three weeks later, Alan
Shepard made the first American suborbital flight on a Redstone rocket. A few years later in
NASA's Mercury program, the agency switched to Atlas rockets to achieve orbit, and in
1963, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth.
When aiming for the moon, NASA used the Saturn V rocket, which, at 363 feet tall, included
three stages — the last one designed to be powerful enough to break away from Earth's
gravity. The rocket successfully launched six moon-landing missions between 1969 and
1972. The Soviet Union developed a moon rocket called N-1, but its program was
permanently suspended after multiple delays and problems, including a deadly explosion.

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NASA's space-shuttle program (1981 to 2011) used solid rockets for the first time to boost
humans into space, which is notable, because unlike liquid rockets, they cannot be turned off.
The shuttle itself had three liquid-fueled engines, with two solid rocket boosters strapped on
the sides. In 1986, a solid rocket boosters O-ring failed and caused a catastrophic explosion,
killing seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The solid rocket boosters were
redesigned after the incident.
Rockets have since been used to send spacecraft farther into our solar system: past the moon,
Venus and Mars in the early 1960s, which later expanded into the exploration of dozens of
moons and planets. Rockets have carried spacecraft throughout the solar system so that
astronomers now have imagery of every planet (as well as the dwarf planet Pluto), many
moons, comets, asteroids and smaller objects. And, because of powerful and advanced
rockets, the Voyager 1 spacecraft was able to leave our solar system and reach interstellar
space.

2.2 EARLY ROCKETS

The use of gunpowder rockets likely goes back to the Song Dynasty of 13th century China,
and the idea may have then been exported to Europe and the Middle East by the Mongol
invasions in the mid-13th century. Henceforth, rockets would be used by militaries for
various purposes, such as laying siege to fortifications and walled cities, as well as for
fireworks.

The name "rocket" is derived from the Italian word rocchetta ("little spindle"), which
referred to their similarity in shape to the device used to hold the thread from a spinning
wheel. The term was adopted into the French roquette by the mid-16th century and began
appearing in English texts by the early 17th century.

By the late 18th century, the Kingdom of Mysore (present-day southern India) developed the
"Mysorean rocket," which the British adopted by the early 19th century. Using compressed
gunpowder and iron cases, these designs increased the range of military rockets from 100 to
2000 yards (~90 to 1830 meters).

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It was also during the 19th century that scientists began distilling the fundamental principles
of rocketry into a mathematical formula in earnest. This would come to be known as the
"rocket equation," or ideal rocket equation, which actually had several authors - all of whom
are believed to have derived it independently of one another.

In 1903, a paper was published, treatise titled "Exploration of Outer Space with Reaction
Machines," in which he argued that the development of the rocket would allow humans to
become a space-faring species. Not only did he present a mathematical formula for how a
rocket engine would work, but his schematics became the basis of modern rocket designs.

2.3 APOLLO ERA (HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT)

With artificial satellites now in space, the US and Soviet Union focused on developing crew-
capable spacecraft that could send the first astronauts/cosmonauts to space. These would
invariably involve larger, more powerful vehicles that relied on liquid oxidizers and various
forms of combustible propellants to generate more thrust.

The Mercury-Redstone would be the first NASA booster capable of sending astronauts to
space. This single-stage rocket eventually relied on a Rocketdyne A-7 engine and was
capable of delivering a crew capsule to suborbital altitudes. The rocket was successfully
flight-tested in November of 1960, and NASA appeared poised to send the first astronaut to
space.

With the success of the Sputnik program, the Soviet Union set its sights on crewed missions,
which resulted in the Vostok program. For the sake of this program, the Soviets developed
the Vostok space capsule, which would launch atop an R-7 modified to carry it (Vostok-K).

On April 12th, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go to space as part of the Vostok-
1 mission. This was followed by Valentina Tereshkova (the first woman) going to space
aboard Vostok-6 in 1963. This led NASA to expedite Project Mercury, which would send
seven astronauts to space (the "Mercury Seven") from May 5th, 1961, to May 15th, 1963.

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These missions relied on the Mercury-Redstone and more powerful Atlas-Mercury, a variant
on the Atlas ICBM that launched the last four crewed missions. The Atlas-Mercury rocket
was a "stage-and-a-half" vehicle, consisting of two external boosters that relied on
a Rocketdyne XLR-89-5 engine and a core stage equipped with a Rocketdyne XLR-105-5.

NASA followed up with Project Gemini (1961-66), a crewed spaceflight program designed
to develop techniques, technology, and expertise that would later be used to land astronauts
on the Moon. For these missions, NASA adopted the two-stage Titan II rocket, which
consisted of a first stage that relied on two LR-87-AJ7 engines and a second stage that used a
single LR-91-AJ7 engine.

Between 1957 and 1967, NASA also began work on the Saturn family of rockets that would
eventually result in the three-stage Saturn V. With a first-stage equipped with
five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, a second stage equipped with 5 Rocketdyne J-2, and a third
stage equipped with 1 J-2, the Saturn V was the most powerful rocket ever built.

It was this rocket that would take the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. The Apollo Program,
which was authorized in 1960, sent a total of twelve astronauts to the Moon between 1969
and 1972. The first was the Apollo 11 mission, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon on July 20th, 1969.

The Soviets also attempted to take the next leap in crewed space exploration. This resulted in
the Voskhod program, the redesigned Vostok spacecraft (crews of 2 to 3), and the more
powerful two-stage Voskhod rocket. Also derived from the R-7 booster, the Voskhod was
based on the earlier Molniya rocket, which had a more powerful upper stage equipped with
an RD-0107 engine.

This was followed by the Soyuz program in 1963, which led to the development of the three-
stage variant of the R-7. The Soyuz rocket would rely on four strap-on boosters with RD-107
engines, a first stage equipped with an RD-108, and a second stage equipped with an RD-
0110.

The Soviets also attempted to develop a lunar rocket known as the N1 - L3, a five-stage
rocket that had 30 NK-15 engines (first stage), 8 NK-15V engines (second), 4 NK-21 engines

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(third), and one NK-19 engine (fourth). By 1974, budget issues, the death of Korolev, and a
series of failed launch attempts led the Soviets to abandon the N1 and their plans for a
crewed mission to the Moon.

2.4 ROCKETS OF THE FUTURE

Several companies in many countries now manufacture uncrewed rockets — the United
States, India, Europe and Russia, to name a few — and routinely send military and civilian
payloads into space.

And scientists and engineers are continually working toward developing even more
sophisticated rockets. Stratolaunch, the aerospace design company backed by Paul Allen and
Burt Rutan, aims to launch satellites using civilian aircraft. SpaceX and Blue Origin have
also developed reusable first-stage rockets; SpaceX now has reusable Falcon 9 rockets that
routinely make cargo runs to the International Space Station.
Experts predict that rockets of the future will be able to carry bigger satellites into space and
may be able to carry multiple satellites at the same time, the Los Angeles Times reported.
These rockets could use new composite materials, advances in electronics or even artificial
intelligence to perform their work. Future rockets may also use different fuels — such as
methane — that are healthier for the environment than the more traditional kerosene that is
used in rockets today.

These days, NewSpace has come to exist as a standalone industry dedicated to space
exploration that provides launch services to government agencies, private companies,
research institutes, and other contractors. Among them are commercial leaders like Blue
Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA).

In all cases, these companies were founded with the vision of increasing access to space by
leveraging technological advancements - reusable vehicles, new materials, new fabrication
processes, etc. - to reduce the costs associated with launching payloads and crews to space.

Blue Origin was one of the first, founded by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in 2000.
To date, the company has developed only one operational launch system, known as the New

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Shepard. This single-stage reusable vehicle relies on a single LOX/LH2 engine - the Blue
Engine-3 (BE-3) - to make suborbital flights.

This will be followed by the New Glenn, a two-stage partly reusable orbital launch vehicle
that will consist of a reusable first stage with seven BE-4 engines powered by liquid oxygen
and liquid natural gas (LOX/LNG) and an expendable second stage with two re-ignitable BE-
3U engines.

SpaceX, created in 2001 by Paypal and Tesla founder Elon Musk, has made considerable
progress by comparison. Between 2010 and 2021, SpaceX has successfully tested multiple
launch systems, made them commercially available, and secured contracts with space
agencies and major corporations to launch payloads and even astronauts (restoring domestic
launch capability to the US for the first time since 2011).

Among these is the Falcon 9, a two-stage launch vehicle that debuted in 2010 and became
the world's first orbital-class reusable rocket. Its reusable first stage features nine Merlin
engines, which are fueled by rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen, while the
second stage is powered by a single Merlin engine optimized for vacuum.

This was followed by the Falcon Heavy in 2018, a two-stage partly-reusable heavy launch
vehicle. The design incorporates two Falcon 9 first stages acting as strap-on boosters that
connect to a structurally augmented Falcon 9 core stage - all of which are reusable. These are
powered by nine Merlin engines each, while the second stage relies on a single Merlin
optimized for vacuum.

Then there is the Starship super-heavy launch system, which is currently undergoing
development and flight testing in South Texas. This rocket will be the first fully reusable and
most powerful launch system ever built, consisting of the Starship reusable spacecraft and
the Super Heavy first stage.

The Starship and Super Heavy will rely on 28 and 41 of the company's new Raptor
engines (respectively), which run on a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen
(CH4/LOX). The system will also rely on orbital refueling, where a separate tanker vehicle
rendezvous' with the Starship in orbit and provide it with the propellant it needs.

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 3. CLASSIFACTION

3.1 CHEMICAL ROCKETS

Chemical rocket propulsion systems are classified into two general types according to
whether they burn propellants stored as solid or as liquid. Solid systems are usually
called motors, and liquid systems are referred to as engines. Some developmental work
has been carried out on so-called hybrid systems, in which the fuel is a solid and the
oxidizer is a liquid, or vice versa. The characteristics of such systems differ greatly
depending on the requirements of a given mission.

3.1.1 SOLID PROPELLANT ROCKET

In a solid-rocket motor (SRM) the propellant consists of one or more pieces mounted
directly in the motor “case,” which serves both as a propellant tank and combustion
chamber. The propellant is usually arranged to protect the motor case from heating. Most
modern propellant charges are formed by pouring a viscous mix into the motor case with
suitable mold fixtures. The propellant solidifies (usually by polymerization) and the mold
fixtures are removed, leaving the propellant bonded to the motor case with a suitably
shaped perforation down the middle. During operation the solid burns on the exposed
inner surfaces. This burns away at a predictable rate to give the desired thrust.

The motor case generally consists of a steel or aluminum tube; it has a head-end dome
that contains an igniter and an aft-end dome that houses or supports the nozzle. Motor
cases ordinarily have insulation on their interior surfaces, especially those not covered by
propellant, for protection against thermal failure (that is, the exhaust’s burning through
the case) during the burn. When a mission requires particularly lightweight components,
motor cases are often made by filament winding of high-strength fibres on a suitable
form. The filaments are held in place by continuous application and curing of plastic
during winding. In motor cases, the front and aft domes are wound as integral parts of the
case, with suitable openings and fixtures included to permit removal of the (collapsible)

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 motor case form, loading of propellant, and attachment of igniter and nozzle. In nearly all
applications, the motor case constitutes the main structural component of the rocket and
must be designed accordingly.

3.1.2 LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET

Liquid-propellant systems carry the propellant in tanks external to

the combustion chamber. Most of these engines use a liquid oxidizer and a liquid fuel,
which are transferred from their respective tanks by pumps. The pumps raise the pressure
above the operating pressure of the engine, and the propellants are then injected into the
engine in a manner that assures atomization and rapid mixing. Liquid-propellant engines
have certain features that make them preferable to solid systems in many applications.

These features include

(1) Higher attainable effective exhaust velocities (ve),

(2) Higher mass fractions (propellant mass divided by mass of inert components), and

(3) Control of operating level in flight (throttle-ability), sometimes including stop-and-

restart capability and emergency shutdown.

Also, in some applications it is an advantage that propellant loading is delayed until

shortly before launch time, a measure that the use of a liquid propellant allows.

The relative merits of solid and liquid propellants in large launch vehicles are still under
debate and involve not only propulsion performance but also issues related to logistics,
capital and operating costs of launch sites, recovery and reuse of flight hardware, and so
forth.

4. AUTOPHAGE ENGINE
4.1 MEANING
An Autophage Engine is one that eats its own structure from the bottom up during flight. It
is derived from the word “Autophagy” which means body’s cells “clean out” any
unnecessary or damaged components. Autophagy is the natural, conserved degradation of

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the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-
dependent regulated mechanism. This technology could lead to cheaper, more efficient and
less wasteful small satellite launches.

4.2 MECHANISM
Self-eating rockets are essentially rockets made of unique materials that burn up in the
atmosphere leaving no trace. Self vanishing satellites are satellites that will come down in
altitude to burn up in orbit after their lifetime. This has been done in the recent past with
tethers, propulsion etc. Today, most rockets use tanks to store their propellant as they climb,
and the weight of the tanks is usually many times greater than the weight of the useful
payload. This reduces the efficiency of the launch vehicle, and contributes to the problem of
space debris. However, a launch vehicle powered by an autophage engine would consume
its own structure during ascent, so more cargo capacity could be freed up and less debris
would enter the orbit.

FIGURE 2: Rocket Components FIGURE 3: Rocket structure

The rockets currently used to deliver CubeSats to orbit often must carry so much propellant
that the tank outweighs the payload itself. Not only does it make for less efficient launches,
but it contributes to space debris, the researchers explain. With a so-called self-eating
engine, many of these issues would be resolved.
Liquid-fueled engines can be throttled and even restarted by pumping fuel and oxidizer into
the combustion chamber as desired, but their turbo-pump feed systems, injection heads,
cooling channels, and slosh preventers make them expensive. Pressure feeding can reduce

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the cost but adds more mass, whereas hypergolic liquid propellants are toxic and more
dangerous to handle than their solid counterparts. Finally, pressurized vessels for liquids are
sometimes forbidden on small spacecraft to reduce launch risks and facilitate overall
compliance.
Solid motors, on the other hand, can produce a desired impulse profile by shaping the
propellant such that the flame front progresses in a predetermined pattern, but it is not
generally possible to throttle the motor on demand

Figure 4: Fuels and Oxidizers used

This is not to say that there is no interest in throttling solid motors, but the competing
schemes put forward have been complex. For example, controllable lasers [9], controllable
variations in chamber pressure [9], and controllable applied electric current [11], combined
with specialist propellants, have been suggested to influence combustion rates. Given the
elegance of the autophage concept, therefore, this discontinued development is something
of a mystery. There has obviously been a great deal of effort expended by various parties
over many decades, but there is no evidence of any working system being developed, nor is
there any record of publications setting out why it was not achieved.
The autophage engine consumes a propellant rod which has solid fuel on the outside and
oxidizer on the inside. The solid fuel is a strong plastic, such as polyethylene, so the rod is
effectively a pipe full of powdered oxidizer. By driving the rod into a hot engine, the fuel
and oxidizer can be vaporized into gases that flow into the combustion chamber. This
produces thrust, as well as the heat required to vaporize the next section of propellant. A

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rocket powered by an autophage engine would be different.
The propellant rod itself would make up the body of the rocket, and as the vehicle climbs,
the engine would work its way up, consuming the body from base to tip. This technology
opens the possibility of actually sizing launch vehicles to match small satellites, thereby
offering more rapid and more targeted access to space.

Figure 5: Cross sectional view of rocket structure

Propellant rod is fed into a conical vaporizer using an external ram powered by an inert gas
by sending that rod into blazing hot engine running at temperature ranging around 3200 °C.
The fuel and the oxidizer are obliterated and turned into gases. A system of channels on the
outer surface of the vaporizer cone transport these gases separately to an injector ring where
they enter the combustion chamber through 16 circumferential ports. Combustion then takes
place and the exhaust gases exit through the nozzle which is a sliding graphite throat that
can be positioned via a push rod to vary the throat area without stopping the engine. The
injection ports are covered by tantalum flap valves to prevent the back passage of the
products of combustion. The engine incorporates an additional gas manifold which can
provide propane and oxygen from external storage tanks. These pilot gases can be ignited by
a spark plug and are used to pre-heat the engine until the vaporization and combustion of the
solid propellant have become self sustaining.

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New technologies like self-eating rockets will revolutionize the space sector, which is
marred by growing concerns about space debris. Recent debris created by an anti-satellite
test from Russia had endangered not just the International Space Station (ISS) but also the
astronauts onboard. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is working on finding
a solution to debris created from defunct satellites in orbit or rocket boosters and payload
fairings that remain in orbit post launch. The self-vanishing satellite technology would
enable spacecrafts to self-destruct once its lifetime is over, with the help of a ‘kill button’.
An autophage rocket engine, consuming only solid propellant, has been fired in a sustained
manner with multiple “throttle up” and “throttle down” maneuvers, where chamber pressure
was observed to vary with the feed force applied to the solid propellant. The engine requires
preheating from pilot gases, but once ignited, it quickly becomes self-sustaining, and the
pilot gases may be switched off. An external pneumatic ram is also required to force the
propellant rod into the engine at the desired feed rate.
The solid fuel is a strong plastic, such as polyethylene, so the rod is effectively a pipe full of
powdered oxidizer. By driving the rod into a hot engine, the fuel and oxidizer can be
vaporized into gases that flow into the combustion chamber. This produces thrust, as well as
the heat required to vaporize the next section of propellant

5. EXPERIMENTATION AND METHODOLOGY

This concept has been recently come into picture because of the increasing number of space
junk or space debris in the Earth’s Atmosphere.
Studies have shown that if the space debris rate continues to increase at this pace, in the near
future the Earth will have ring like structure like Saturn.
This concept was first experimented by researchers of the Glasgow University in 2018 and
henceforth various research tests have been done to achieve the goal for it to be
economically feasible.
The team was able to sustain the engine operations for around 60 seconds with propeelant
feed forces between 250 to 900 Newton. They have also achieved feed rates between 100 to
300 mm/min. the chamber pressure ranges between 300 to 700 kPa.

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The 2018 experiments focused mainly on:
1. The force applied to the solid Propellant
2. The resultant propellant Rod Usage
3. The Chamber Pressure
4. The stagnation Temperature near the chamber wall

The facilities consist of a firing room with a gastight door and a separate viewing window,
through which the operators can observe the engine test-bed from the adjoining operations
room. The test-bed is mounted such that the engine fires in an inverted manner, with the
exhaust plume directed into a ventilation system mounted in the ceiling. The test-bed
instrumentation includes a linear position sensor to monitor consumption of the propellant
rod, a force transducer to measure the force being applied to the propellant rod by the
external ram, a tungsten-rhenium thermocouple mounted at the combustion chamber wall,
and a pressure tap at the same location that leads to both electronic and mechanical pressure
gauges. Data from these instruments are fed back through the services channel to be logged
in the operations room.
The development team selected the propellant mixture (polypropylene fuel and a 1∶1.5 mixture of
ammonium perchlorate and ammonium nitrate oxidizer) after considering the fuels and oxidizers
presented in Table 2. In this table, they considered “free” oxygen to be the difference between the
total oxygen contained in the oxidizer and the oxygen necessary to react with hydrogen present
within the oxidizer itself, excluding that part of the hydrogen which will form a bond with chlorine
instead. Because PP and PE have similar characteristics, there is little difference between them in
firing. However, the greater mechanical strength of PP makes it more suitable for the thin casing of
the propellant rod. Low-pressure polyethylene is as strong as PP but has not yet been tested.

Table 2: Characteristics of fuels and oxidizers

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 6. MILESTONES OF INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMME

By the 1990s, the ISRO unveiled their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), a four-stage
launch vehicle that relied on 6 solid rocket boosters, a single S139 engine (first stage), a
single Vikas engine (second), a solid rocket motor (third), and two PS4 engines (fourth). In
2001, India unveiled the three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV),
powered by four liquid-propellant strap-on boosters, a first stage powered by a single S139
engine, a second stage powered by a Vikas, and a third stage powered by a CE-7.5 cryogenic
engine.

• Indian Space Programme began at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station

(TERLS) located at Thumba near Thiruvanathapuram. Thumba was selected for
being rocket launching station because geomagnetic equator of the earth passes
over Thumba. The geomagnetic equator of the earth passes over Thumba.
• On November 21, 1963, the first sounding rocket was launched from TERLS.
The first rocket, a Nike-Apache was procured from the US. A sounding rocket is
a rocket, which is intended for assessing the physical parameters of the upper
atmosphere.
• The Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station was set up at Ahmedabad on
January 1, 1967.
• India’s first indigenous sounding rocket, RH-75, was launched on November 20,
1967.
• Aryabhata - First Indian Satellite was launched on April 19, 1975. It was
launched from the former Soviet Union. It provided India with the basis of
learning satellite technology and designing.
• Bhaskara-I - an experimental satellite for earth observations was launched on
June 7, 1979.
• First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on board
(August 10, 1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit. Satellite Launch
Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) is the first launch vehicle of India.
• Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini satellite successfully placed in
orbit. (July 18, 1980).

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• Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE), an experimental geo-stationary
communication satellite was successfully launched on June 19, 1981. It became
the forerunner for future communication satellite system.
• Indian National Satellite system (INSAT)-1A was launched on April 10, 1982.
This system was for the communication, broadcasting and meteorology.
• On April 2, 1984, the first Indo-Soviet manned space mission was launched.
Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to go into space. He flew aboard in
the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11, as part of a three member Soviet-Indian crew.
• Gaganyaan Programme - Cabinet has approved Indian Human Spaceflight
Initiative - Gaganyaan Programme. Two unmanned & one manned flight has been
planned. Estimates for Phase-I expenditure- Rs 9023 Crores. Gaganyaan
Programme will establish a broader framework for collaboration between ISRO,
academia, industry, national agencies and other scientific organizations.
• India’s telecommunication satellite, GSAT-31 was successfully launched on
February 06, 2019 from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-
247.
• India’s PSLV-C46 successfully launched RISAT-2B satellite from Satish
Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on May 22, 2019. The satellite
is intended to provide services to Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management
domains.
• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1 rocket, carrying
Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on July 22, 2019. Chandrayaan-2 is India's second
mission to the moon. It comprises a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram)
and Rover (Pragyan). The Rover Pragyan is housed inside Vikram lander.
Chandrayaan-2 has several science payloads to facilitate a more detailed
understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.
• India’s PSLV-C47 successfully launched Cartosat-3 and 13 commercial
nanosatellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on
November 27, 2019.

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 7. CONCLUSION

The goal of this technology is to produce a lightweight autophage engine suitable for small
rocket applications. However, for effective propulsion, the chamber pressure should reach
the order of 1000 kPa, whereas the propellant feed pressure should be less, perhaps around
100 kPa, to ensure that the mass of the system is kept as low as possible. The propellant feed
pressure may be estimated by considering the propellant feed force, subtracting a value to
account for friction forces between the propellant rod and the vaporizer assembly, and then
dividing the force by the area of the propellant rod. This directly compares the first and
second firings and presents the propellant rate and chamber pressure, exactly as before, for
reference. A comparison exercise will clearly show the relatively large propellant pressures
used to achieve throttling in the first run, contrasted to the low propellant pressures used in
the second run.
Self eating Rockets can revolutionize the space era as it is quite advantageous from the
reusable rockets developed by SpaceX. The major disadvantages of Reusable rockets are:
• Fuel cannot be reused in the rocket as it is released in the atmosphere as exhaust rate
of 300 pounds/second.
• They produce carbon dioxide which pollutes the atmosphere due to emission at
stratosphere layer and mesosphere layer.
• Due to cheaper flight cost, more flights are launched at frequent intervals. This leads
to more exhaust and more harm to the atmosphere.

7.1 CHALLENGES
Several operational difficulties have been identified that can lead to failure or reduced
pressure in the combustion chamber
1. Explosive Failures
2. Leakage around the nozzle exchange system
3. Incomplete Combustion
The removal of space debris faces numerous challenges. Firstly, there is the need to
rendezvous with, control and target space debris that may be tumbling and may have

23
unknown physical properties. There is also the possibility that there may not be convenient
places to grab and capture the object. The biggest obstacle lies in the fact that through these
methods of removal of debris, we may end producing more debris.

Space debris removal mission have many complications due to the non-cooperative
nature of the objects that have to be captured. Debris can vary widely in characteristics and
physical properties. They do not provide any information to the chaser satellites. Many
methods of capturing space debris and removal methods have been proposed and
investigated. Each kind of debris has different characteristics and thus different layers of non-
cooperativeness. This requires each kind of debris to have its own appropriate capturing and
removal mechanisms tailored to fit its level of non-cooperativeness.

Among the other challenges of space debris removal, the most difficult challenges are the
country’s political, cultural, legal and economic challenges. Though space debris is an
upcoming issue in today’s advancing space technology inspite of that, no one in the
government wants to address this issue and work towards it. Until any catastrophic event
occurs, there will be conflicts among the human nature and political interests and even if any
new technology is developed for space debris removal, the implementation and action will be
slow. There are countless innovations and hypothetically disruptive technologies just waiting
for the moment that incentives are created to stimulate the many gifted individuals and
groups around the space world.

7.2 NEW SPACE ERA

What does the future hold for rockets? The answer depends on what kinds of technological
developments happen and when as this century unfolds. For instance, we could be just a few
years (decades at most) away from nuclear rockets - i.e., ones that rely on nuclear reactors to
heat liquid hydrogen or other propellants.
Rockets could also be used to provide intercontinental flights in the near future, which are
something Elon Musk has promised (and China claims to be exploring as well). According to
his proposals, the Starship and Super Heavy would offer point-to-point flights between sea
platforms located offshore from major cities.

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ISRO is working on technologies which will change the face of space Science. Currently
ISRO is working on 46 such technologies which can even beat the imagination of Star Trek.
Their main concept is to develop a technology in which the rockets will eat themselves
completely, so that neither the garbage will fall in water nor the debris will be created in the
space. ISRO is looking for specific material to make the body of the rocket which can
dismantle itself along with the motor.

8. REFERENCES
[1]Joseph Pelton 2015 1 J.N. Pelton, “New Solutions for the Space Debris Problem”,
SpringerBriefs in Space Development, 2015.

[2] Marshall H. Kaplan, Survey of Space Debris Reduction Methods, AIAA SPACE 2009
Conference & Exposition, AIAA September 2009, DOI:10.2514/6.2009-6619

[3] Phillip A.Slann, Space debris and the need for space traffic control, Space Policy,
30(1) February 2014, pp 40-42

[4] Paul V. Anderson, Hanspeter Schaub, Local debris congestion in the geosynchronous
environment with population augmentation, Acta Astronautica, Volume 94, Issue 2, February
2014, pp 619-628.

[5]https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debr is/About_space_debris

[6] Michael Bauccio, Ed “ASM Metals Reference Book”, Third edition,. ASM International,
Materials Park, OH, 1993 Alloy 2014:

[7] “chemical composition of Aluminium /Aluminum 2219 alloy”: Aluminium / Aluminum 2219
Alloy (UNS) Sep 18 2012,

[8] John M. (Tim) Holt, Technical Ed; C. Y. Ho, Ed “Structural Alloys Handbook”, 1996
edition,., CINDAS/Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 1996
[9] Stainless Steel - Grade 301 (UNS S30100), Stainless Steel - Grade 301 (UNS S30100): Oct 19
2001
[9] Isakari, S., Onizuka, S., Yano, Y., and Kakami, A., “Performance Evaluation of a Throttleable
Solid Propellant Thruster Using Laser Heating,” Transactions of the Japan Society for
Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Vol. 14, No. 30, 2016, pp. 61–66.
[10] Petersen, E., Seal, S., Stephens, M., Reid, D., Carro, R., Sammet, T., and Lepage, A., “Solid
Propellant Rocket Motor Having Self-Extinguishing Propellant Grain and Systems Therefrom,”
U.S. Patent 8,336,287, Dec. 2012.
[11] Carlson, R., “Method and System for Controlling Solid Propellant Thrust,” U.S. Patent
8,584,443, Nov. 2013.

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