In the Fall of 2018, the team began the Helios engine project. Helios is a pressure-fed bi-propellant liquid engine designed to produce 350lbf and is fed with diluted Ethanol & LOX by an accompanying test stand. Helios's two main goals are to:
We built the test stand, integrated the chamber assembly onto the test stand, and conducted leak testing in Nov 2023. Successfully fired on May 16th, 2024!
Specifications:
Heat-sink cooled
Pressure-fed, gN2
Chamber pressure @ 500 psi
Made out of 1018C Steel
360 lbf thrust, 5 second burn
Chamber diameter: 3.157 in
Throat diameter: 0.789
Expansion ratio: 5.82
L* : 40.83 in
Yield strength: 370 MPa
MEOP: 7.48 MPa
Design Review:
Milestones:
Nov 4: We setup our test stand at our test site in Maine for the first time.
Nov 11: We conducted switchbox tests, leak tests, igniter tests, and data acquisition system tests at our test site.