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Table of Contents
Space Propulsion
In space, the only real option for propulsion is pure thrust. Drives of these sort fall into two categories: reaction drives, which rely on Newton's third law of motion, and reactionless drives, which do not.
Reaction Drive
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Newton's third law is the fundamental concept behind the reaction drive: If you throw something out the back of your ship, the ship will go forward.
Chemical Rockets
These work by burning a propellant of some sort, and then exhausting the resulting hot gasses and particles out the back of the ship. They are extremely simple in concept, and nearly foolproof as a result.
| TR | Type | Mass (kg) | Cost (₠) | Fuel (lph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -2 | Solid Rocket | Thrust ÷ 10† | Mass × 2.5 | – |
| -1 | Solid Rocket | Thrust ÷ 36† | Mass × 2.5 | – |
| 0 | Solid Rocket | Thrust ÷ 60† | Mass × 2.5 | – |
| -1 | Liquid Fuel Rocket | Thrust ÷ 650 | Mass × 10 | Thrust ÷ 11 |
| 0 | Liquid Fuel Rocket | Thrust ÷ 1,000 | Mass × 10 | Thrust ÷ 15 |
| +1 | Liquid Fuel Rocket | Thrust ÷ 1,200 | Mass × 15 | Thrust ÷ 18 |
†per minute of burn-time
Mass is per Newton of thrust (and per minute of burn-time for solid rockets). Cost is per kilogram. Fuel is in liters per hour. Volume for all engines listed above, in cubic meters, is equal to their mass divided by 150.