https://habitablezone.com/2022/05/10/air-breathing-rocket-engines/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 https://habitablezone.com/2022/05/10/air-breathing-rocket-engines/#comment-49692 ER Tue, 10 May 2022 17:55:08 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=94173#comment-49692 But I'm skeptical, for the reasons given in the article. Still, maybe it can be useful as a first 'booster' stage while it is still low in the atmosphere. If the engine could be configured so it smoothly switches over to an onboard oxidizer after the surrounding atmosphere gets too thin to breathe, then it might be really useful. Still, for a complex system to operate well in two totally separate environments is an engineering challenge. But I’m skeptical, for the reasons given in the article. Still, maybe it can be useful as a first ‘booster’ stage while it is still low in the atmosphere. If the engine could be configured so it smoothly switches over to an onboard oxidizer after the surrounding atmosphere gets too thin to breathe, then it might be really useful. Still, for a complex system to operate well in two totally separate environments is an engineering challenge.

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