EBARA CORPORATION (hereinafter referred to as "EBARA") is pleased to announce that the electric turbo pump for rocket engines, which has been under development since 2022, has successfully completed a performance test using liquid nitrogen, which was conducted in September 2024.
A step forward for the commercialization of EBARA's aerospace business!
Successful cryogenic fluid testing of electric turbopumps for rocket engines
1. Background
EBARA launched its space business initiative in 2021 with the mission of making the connection between people and space commonplace. Since then, we have been developing electric turbopumps to supply fuel to rocket engines in order to contribute to the establishment of a low-cost, highly flexible means of transportation. The electric turbopump *1 , driven by an electric motor, is a technology that is expected to simplify the engine system and achieve higher reliability and easier power control than the turbine-driven pump *2 used in conventional key launch vehicles. We are currently developing an electric turbopump designed for a rocket engine with a thrust of 3 tons, and completed a performance test using a water test model in December 2023.
2. Overview
The electric turbopump tested in this study is intended to supply liquid methane as fuel to rocket engines. The test was conducted in early September 2024 at the cryogenic turbopump test facility at JAXA's Kakuda Space Center in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, using liquid nitrogen (-196°C) as the working fluid, which has a very low temperature similar to that of actual rocket engine fuel. The test was conducted at the cryogenic turbopump test facility at the Kakuda Space Center. We were able to measure the target rotational speed and planned data through a long enough operation test and confirmed that the product was working stably without any abnormal vibration of the pump or leakage of liquid nitrogen. The success of this test is seen as a major step toward EBARA's goal of establishing a low-cost, highly flexible means of transportation to space.
| Test Title | Performance Test of Electric Turbo Pump for Rocket Engines |
| Test Purpose | Performance Test of Electric Turbo Pump Using Liquid Nitrogen as Working Fluid |
| Test Period | September 6 to September 13, 2024 |
| Location | JAXA Kakuda Space Center |
| Test Contents | The performance of the electric turbo pump when using cryogenic fluid is as designed, measuring flow, pressure and rotational speed, etc., to ensure that the performance of the electric turbo pump is as designed when using cryogenic fluid. |
3. Future Prospects
We will continue to acquire fundamental data on multiple operating conditions, etc., for various operations of rocket engines, leading to the realization of engine systems using this product. In the future, we will continue to test liquid methane (actual liquid), as well as manufacture and test pumps for liquid oxygen, and promote efforts to demonstrate an engine system that combines the two, thereby providing a new option for space transportation and contributing to solving social issues.
The EBARA Group aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further enhance its corporate value by addressing key ESG issues based on its long-term vision and medium-term management plan.
*1: Pumps that use an electric motor as the power source to rotate the impeller.
*2: Pumps that use a turbine rotated by hot, high-pressure gas to rotate the pump impeller.
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