This 'self-eating' rocket consumes itself for fuel. Scientists hope it'll curb space junk.
A team of engineers in the United Kingdom has developed a rocket capable of traveling beyond Earth's atmosphere while consuming itself for fuel before burning up completely.
The rocket was built with what the team at the University of Glasgow calls an autophage engine, a term derived from the Latin word for "self-eating." To reach orbit, the rocket would metaphorically eat itself, gradually burning away to almost nothing as it propelled itself onward to deliver nanosatellites and other payloads into space, the team said in a news release.
Appropriately, the scientists named the rocket Ouroborous-3 after the ancient mythical creature that devours its own tail. If the prototype were to be put into action, the team said the self-consuming technology would help reduce the amount of orbital debris littering outer space.
In a short video the team shared on YouTube, the rocket engine can been seen gradually burning down like a candle. Once the rocket runs out of fuel, the final section collapses and appears to spark in a brief, fiery explosion.
Watch the video here:
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How does the rocket work?
Like the ancient snake for which it's named, the engine is designed to consume its own back end as it uses up the rocket fuel – gaseous oxygen and liquid propane – contained within.
As the engine heats up, combustion melts the plastic fuselage. Molten plastic is then fed into the engine’s combustion chamber as additional fuel to burn alongside its regular liquid propellants.
By burning this plastic, the rocket gains an additional 5-16% of fuel, allowing it to be lighter when it launches and have more room for payloads, the team said.
Controlled testing reveals rocket's capabilities
The engineers recently tested the Ouroborous-3 at the Machrihanish Airbase in Scotland and demonstrated that it can be throttled, reignited and pulsed. During the test, the rocket also produced 100 newtons of thrust, supplied a fifth of the total required fuel and showed to be capable of a stable, controllable burn.
Those abilities would be essential in controlling the rocket when launching it into orbit, the team said.
The team further showcased its work this week as a published research paper presented at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech Forum in Florida.
Patrick Harkness, an engineer at the University of Glasgow who led the rocket's development, said the Ouroborous-3 "would be a compelling prospect for future rocket designs" if the mass it burns could be made available for payloads instead.
“These results are a foundational step on the way to developing a fully-functional autophage rocket engine," Harkness said in a statement. "Those future rockets could have a wide range of applications which would help advance the UK’s ambitions to develop as a key player in the space industry."
'Self-eating' rockets could help mitigate orbital debris
After a rocket uses up its fuel, the tank generally lingers behind, either plummeting back to Earth or floating through space for eternity.
Because the Ouroborous-3 burns most of its structure, it doesn't produce as much debris as standard rockets. The design, if implemented, could prove a pivotal strategy to avoid contributing to an already growing field of orbital space junk.
The European Space Agency, NASA and other spacefaring organizations across the globe have been looking for ways to mitigate the ever-growing cosmic junkyard of old satellites and rocket flotsam crowding Earth's orbit. In November, the ESA adopted the Zero Debris Charter, which seeks a global commitment to nearly eradicate so-called space junk by 2030.
The concept of a rocket that eats its own parts was first patented in 1938, but it wasn't until 2018 that the Glasgow team, in partnership with Dnipro National University in Ukraine, first test-fired an autophage engine design.
The recent design, which was a collaboration with Kingston University, shows that autophage rockets could be efficient enough to take a greater payload into space compared to a conventional rocket of the same mass.
And with additional funding from the U.K. Space Agency, the researchers said they are already working on a more powerful successor.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]