Popellants

Solid fuel rocket motor manufacturers usually provide a variety of propellant types. Some fuel mixtures burn quickly for high thrust for a short period of time. Others burn slower for a lower thrust for a longer period of time. Some produce little smoke. Some make a dense black smoke. And some burn with a red, blue or other color flame.

Most commercial solid fuel used with high power rockets is a composite material made of ammonium perchlorate with a rubber binder. The rubber also serves as the fuel. Different additives can be used to create effects like sparks or colored flames.

Another type of motor is a hyrbid. It uses a gas, like N₂O (nitrous oxide) as the oxidizer (source of oxygen), and a solid material, like cellulose, as the fuel.

Submitted by Dean Roth

Propellant Types

Every manufacturer, and most research motor makers have their own slight variation on the same general propellant mixture. Here is a partial list of equivalent propellants from manufacturers, as of this writing, and general characteristics of the propellant mix.

Submitted by Tim Scott