News > NASA tests ‘revolutionary’ new propulsion system designed for deep space missions

NASA tests ‘revolutionary’ new propulsion system designed for deep space missions

Propulsion development engineers at NASA have developed and tested the agency’s first full-scale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine, or RDRE. It is an advanced rocket engine design that could revolutionise how future rocket propulsion systems are built, according to the space agency. The RDRE is different from conventional rocket engine designs and generates thrust using a “supersonic combustion phenomenon” known as detonation.