RS-88
An RS-88 is fired at Stennis Space Center | |
| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Designer | Rocketdyne |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Status | Active |
| Liquid-fuel engine | |
| Propellant | LOX / Ethanol MMH / NTO (LAE variant) |
| Cycle | Gas-generator |
| Performance | |
| Thrust, sea-level | 220 kN (49,000 lbf) (ethanol) 176.6 kN (39,700 lbf) (hypergolic) |
| Used in | |
| CST-100 Starliner | |
The RS-88 (Rocket System-88) is a liquid-fueled rocket engine designed and built in the United States by Rocketdyne (later Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and then Aerojet Rocketdyne). Originally developed for NASA's Bantam System Technology program in 1997, the RS-88 burned ethanol fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer. It offered 220 kN (49,000 lbf) of thrust at sea level.
A hypergolic derivative of the RS-88, fueled by monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, was chosen as the launch escape motor for the Boeing Starliner capsule.