Bristol Siddeley Gamma
1950s British rocket engine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Armstrong Siddeley, later Bristol Siddeley Gamma was a family of rocket engines used in British rocketry, including the Black Knight and Black Arrow launch vehicles. They burned kerosene fuel and hydrogen peroxide. Their construction was based on a common combustion chamber design, used either singly or in clusters of up to eight.
Country of origin | Britain |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Bristol Siddeley |
Application | 1st stage booster |
Predecessor | Armstrong Siddeley Stentor |
Successor | Gamma 301 |
Liquid-fuel engine | |
Propellant | Hydrogen peroxide / kerosene |
Mixture ratio | 8:1 (approx.) |
Cycle | Gas-generator |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 4, gimballed in opposed pairs |
Performance | |
Thrust, sea-level | 16,400 lbf (73 kN)[1][2] |
Application | 1st stage booster |
---|---|
Predecessor | Gamma 201 |
Successor | Gamma 8 |
Liquid-fuel engine | |
Propellant | Hydrogen peroxide / kerosene |
Mixture ratio | 8:1 (approx.) |
Cycle | Gas-generator |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 4, gimballed in opposed pairs |
Performance | |
Thrust, sea-level | 17,000–21,600[3] lbf (76–96 kN)-21,000 lbf (93 kN)[4] |
Specific impulse | 250 seconds (2.5 km/s) |
Burn time | 120 seconds |
Application | 2nd stage |
---|---|
Predecessor | Gamma 301 |
Successor | Larch (rocket engine) |
Liquid-fuel engine | |
Propellant | Hydrogen peroxide / kerosene |
Cycle | Gas-generator |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 2, extended |
Performance | |
Thrust, vacuum | 68.2 kN (15,300 lbf)[5] |
Thrust, sea-level | 64.60 kN (14,520 lbf)[6] |
Burn time | 113 seconds [7] |
Application | 1st stage booster |
---|---|
Predecessor | Gamma 301 |
Liquid-fuel engine | |
Propellant | Hydrogen peroxide / kerosene |
Cycle | Gas-generator |
Configuration | |
Chamber | 8, gimballed in pairs |
Performance | |
Thrust, sea-level | 52,785 lbf (234.80 kN)[8] |
Burn time | 125 seconds |
They were developed by Armstrong Siddeley in Coventry, which later became Bristol Siddeley in 1959, and finally Rolls-Royce in 1966.[9]
Engine static testing was carried out at High Down Rocket Test Site, near The Needles on the Isle of Wight (50°39′38.90″N 1°34′38.25″W).[10][11] (Spadeadam in Cumbria wasn't used for testing until Blue Streak, after Gamma).