Saturday, December 29, 2012

Flox propellant

What is Flox?  It is a 70-30 mixture of florine with oxygen--- in liquid form, it is called Flox.

It has a couple of advantages--- it is said to be easier to handle than liquid oxygen, and it has a higher isp when used with kerosene.  A flox/kerosene rocket could have an isp of 316 at sea level, which compares favorably with the Falcon 9.


Speculation alert:

If such a combination were used on a rocket which was airlaunched by a Stratolauncher, it could cut down on the size of the rocket by maybe as much as a third with the same payload.  You could even use a methane/lox combo in the upper stage.  With the weight savings at the first stage, a heavier second stage wouldn't be a show stopper.  Besides, while Musk was still in on Stratolauncher, he was planning to use his standard kersone/lox combo on the second stage.  The methane/lox will be lighter still.  This means an even more capable rocket combination is possible even with SpaceX out of the picture.

The advantage of Stratolaunch is that it can position the first stage so that it can be recovered and reused.  The second stage could be reused as well.  With the additional weight margins, additional capability could be added in without adversely impacting payloads.

An opportunity for SpaceX's replacement for the Stratolauncher?


Update: NASA studied flox rocket fuel possibilites and concluded a methane/flox rocket was feasible


Update:

Orbital Sciences does not appear to be the type of company that would do a flox rocket.  So, fuggedaboutit.


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