Space Launch Initiative - RS-84 Rocket Engine

RS-84 Rocket Engine

As part of the Space Launch Initiative, Rocketdyne developed a plan for the RS-84 rocket engine. It would have been the first reusable, staged combustion cycle, liquid rocket engine produced by the US to use a hydrocarbon fuel. In contrast, the Soviet Union developed the RD-170 reusable staged combustion hydrocarbon engine for the Energia rocket in the 1980s.

The prototype engine would have 4,732 kN (1,064,000 lbf) at sea level; 5,026 kN (1,130,000 lbf) in vacuum; an 8-shift turn time; a specific impulse of 305 at sea level and 324 in vacuum. NASA cancelled further development in 2005.