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Unlike other more common propellants like liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen, Aerozine 50 is liquid at room temperature and can be stored in liquid state without significant boil off, thus making it a storable propellant better suited for long-term interplanetary missions.
Nitrous oxide fuel blend propellants are a class of liquid rocket propellants that were intended in the early 2010s to be able to replace hydrazine as the standard storable rocket propellent in some applications. In nitrous-oxide fuel blends, the fuel and oxidizer are blended and stored; this is sometimes referred to as a mixed monopropellant.
The propellant or fuel may also simply be a compressed fluid, with the potential energy that is stored in the compressed fluid used to expel the fluid as the propellant. The energy stored in the fluid was added to the system when the fluid was compressed, such as compressed air. The energy applied to the pump or thermal system that is used to ...
During the 1950s and 1960s there was a great burst of activity by propellant chemists to find high-energy liquid and solid propellants better suited to the military. Large strategic missiles need to sit in land-based or submarine-based silos for many years, able to launch at a moment's notice.
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because they have reasonably high density and their combustion products have high specific impulse (I sp). This allows the volume of the propellant tanks to be ...
Generally, this is a separate tank of liquid or high-pressure inert gas, such as nitrogen or helium. This adds extra cost and weight. Cryogenic or volatile propellants generally do not need a separate pressurant; instead, some propellant is expanded (often with engine heat) into low-density gas and routed back to its tank. A few highly volatile ...
Liquid propellants provide greater propulsive thrust and power, but require more complex technology and extra weight. Solid fuel is dense and burns quite quickly, generating thrust over a short time.
Solid propellant rockets are much easier to store and handle than liquid propellant rockets. High propellant density makes for compact size as well. These features plus simplicity and low cost make solid propellant rockets ideal for military and space applications.