Opportunities for a Liquid Rocket Feed System Based on Electric Pumps

A feed system for liquid-propellant rocket engines based on electric pumps powered by batteries is proposed. It is proven to stand as a viable alternative to the pressure-gas feed system. The dependence of the feed system mass on the different operating parameters is obtained so as to identify the conditions favoring its adoption, that is, a relatively long burning time and a fairly high chamber pressure. Under such conditions, the proposed system is shown to offer significant mass savings with respect to the pressure-gas system when advanced batteries are used. This advantage is further enhanced by the beneficial effect of chamber pressure on the engine effective exhaust velocity. A test case for a low Earth orbit to geostationary equatorial orbit transfer is also presented to identify the optimum value of the burning time, deriving from the competition between the feed system mass and the effect of gravitational losses.