Template:Specific impulse examples
| Engine | Effective exhaust velocity (m/s) |
Specific impulse (s) |
Exhaust specific energy (MJ/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbofan jet engine (actual V is ~300 m/s) |
29,000 | 3,000 | Approx. 0.05 |
| Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster |
2,500 | 250 | 3 |
| Liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen |
4,400 | 450 | 9.7 |
| VASIMR[1][2][3] | 30,000–120,000 | 3,000–12,000 | 1,400 |
| NSTAR[4] electrostatic xenon ion thruster | 20,000-30,000 | 1,950-3,100 | |
| DS4G electrostatic ion thruster[5] | 210,000 | 21,400 | 22,500 |
| Ideal photonic rocket[a] | 299,792,458 | 30,570,000 | 89,875,517,874 |
- ^ A hypothetical device doing perfect conversion of mass to photons emitted perfectly aligned so as to be antiparallel to the desired thrust vector. This represents the theoretical upper limit for propulsion relying strictly on onboard fuel and the rocket principle.
References
- ^ http://www.adastrarocket.com/TimSTAIF2005.pdf
- ^ http://www.adastrarocket.com/AIAA-2010-6772-196_small.pdf
- ^ http://spacefellowship.com/news/art24083/vasimr-vx-200-meets-full-power-efficiency-milestone.html
- ^ In-flight performance of the NSTAR ion propulsion system on the Deep Space One mission. Aerospace Conference Proceedings. IEEExplore. 2000. doi:10.1109/AERO.2000.878373.
- ^ http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMOSTG23IE_index_0.html