RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine
| RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine | ||
 | ||
| Liquid fuel engine by Rockomax Conglomerate | ||
| Radial size | Large | |
| Cost | (total) | 13 000.00 
|
| Mass | (total) | 6.000 t |
| Drag | 0.2 | |
| Max. Temp. | 2000 K | |
| Impact Tolerance | 7 m/s | |
| Research |  Heavier Rocketry
| |
| Unlock cost | 38 000
| |
| Since version | 0.16 | |
| Part configuration | liquidEngineMainsail_v2.cfg | |
| Maximum thrust | (1 atm) | 1 379.03 kN |
| (vacuum) | 1 500.00 kN | |
| Isp | (1 atm) | 285 s |
| (vacuum) | 310 s | |
| Fuel consumption | 98.68  /s
| |
| Thrust vectoring | 2 ° | |
| Electricity generated | 12.0 ⚡/s | |
| Testing Environments | ||
| On the surface | Yes | |
| In the ocean | Yes | |
| On the launchpad | Yes | |
| In the atmosphere | Yes | |
| Sub-orbital | Yes | |
| In an orbit | Yes | |
| On an escape | Yes | |
| Docked | No | |
| Test by staging | Yes | |
| Manually testable | Yes | |
The Rockomax "Mainsail" Liquid Engine is the largest, heaviest and most powerful engine among the stock parts. I is usually used to provide thrust for larger rockets and lower stages. It is typically fueled by large diameter liquid fuel tanks like the Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank.
Usage
The Mainsail is the most common choice for lifting large stacks of liquid fuel tanks into orbit and beyond, or propelling large heavy lift vehicles. As of 0.22[outdated], this is one of three size 2 engines, and it is the highest thrust stock part. The thrust vectoring also gives it good pitch and yaw control, greatly easing first stage stability, though care must be taken to not allow S.A.S. to tear the ship apart. The thrust-to-weight ratio of this engine is excellent. However, the Mainsail suffers from a rather low specific impulse, especially in a vacuum and consumes large amounts of fuel.
The high thrust of this engine, combined with thrust vectoring can destroy poorly built rockets in the middle of ascents. Throttling down or locking the vectoring is often recommended. As of 0.22[outdated], the Mainsail no longer tends to quickly explode from overheating when run on maximum throttle and placed under a Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank, though other parts may encounter the same bug. Placing a small strut or fuel tank between the engine and the Jumbo-64 will mitigate this.
Description
| “ | A monster of an engine for heavy lifting purposes, the Mainsail's power rivals that of entire small nations. — Rockomax Conglomerate |
” |
Changes
- heatProduction reduced from 500 to 400, as a work around to heat transfer bugs with the Jumbo-64
- Renamed from LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine to Rockomax "Mainsail" Liquid Engine, thrust increased (1200 → 1500), mass decreased (7 → 6), new description
- Initial release
