Air Force-Developed Rocket Propellant Could Usher in Next Era of Space Travel
NASA is ready to use an Air Force-developed rocket propellant that can allow spacecraft to fly faster, further and carry a heavier payload than current space propellants.
The agency will test out AF-M315, a new class of propellant, in 2015. AF-M315 is about twice as powerful as existing spacecraft propellants and doesn’t damage the environment, according to Tom Hawkins, of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Aerospace Systems Directorate. The propellant has been under development for more than 10 years by scientists at the Air Force’s Office of Scientific Research and the AFRL.
Hawkins says the propellant might usher in a new era of space travel.