Astrobotic via YouTube I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no rocket scientist. Then again, I don’t think you have to be to gaze in wonder at this rotating detonation rocket engine from aerospace company Astrobotic. It boasts some crazy specs, which we’ll get to in a minute, but first, we have to talk about the spiraling exhaust flame it throws. What the heck even is that? Well, it has everything to do with the nature of the engine itself. The Astrobotic rep in the video below explains it this way: “You have these supersonic detonation waves that travel in circles around the outer part of this rocket engine. In fact, we didn’t add just one of these supersonic waves; we had three detonation waves chasing each other around the outside of this. That’s what allows for this very efficient, very rapid combustion to enable these high thrust applications.” The engine operated for 470 seconds with no discernible damage. Included in that was a single 300-second run, believed to be a new record for RDRE technology. Astrobotic via YouTube The visible result is some incredibly tight shock diamonds, which fans of military aircraft and space travel will definitely be familiar with. (If you’re a regular on The War Zone, howdy!) Essentially, they’re created when supersonic exhaust pressure doesn’t match the surrounding atmosphere. Shockwaves are then formed as the exhaust gets compressed, expands, and compresses again. If you’re more familiar with 2JZs than F-22s, this is some crazy stuff. The Astrobotic rep says its RDRE—named Chakram, after the ancient throwing weapon—achieved more than 4,000 pounds of thrust in multiple tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. That’s remarkable considering how compact the engine is. And these tests focused largely on duration, to see how well everything operates for extended periods. “Chakram more than exceeded our expectations,” said Bryant Avalos, Astrobotic’s principal investigator for the Chakram program. “With any cutting-edge technology like an RDRE, moving from design into testing, you’re always worried about unknown factors that could be critical to performance. But the engine performed even better than expected. The 300-second burn was the cherry on top. Demonstrations like this show how RDRE technology could support a wide range of Astrobotic missions, from propulsion on future lunar landers to in-space orbital transfer vehicles, and other capabilities that will help expand operations throughout cislunar space.” Astrobotic says the Chakram could be introduced to its existing product lineup, which includes the Xogdor VTOL reusable rocket and two lunar landers. The company insists that the more efficient combustion could be a boon for taking more payload up higher or faster. I’ll leave all that to them, but from where I’m sitting here on earth, this certainly seems next-level. Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com