RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine

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RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine
Part image
Liquid fuel engine by
Rockomax Conglomerate

Radial size Medium, Large
Cost (total) 13 000.00 Funds
Mass (total) 6.00 t
Drag 0.2
Max. Temp. 2000 K
Volume  ?
Impact Tolerance 7 m/s
Research Heavier rocketry.png Heavier Rocketry
Unlock cost 38 000 Funds
Since version 0.16
Part configuration liquidEngineMainsail_v2.cfg
Liquid fuel engine
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 Units of fuel/s


Thrust vectoring 2 °
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 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 0.20, 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 Advanced S.A.S. to tear the ship apart. The high thrust of this engine, combined with thrust vectoring (TVC) can destroy poorly built rockets in the middle of ascents. Throttling down is often recommended.

The Thrust-to-Weight ratio of this engine is excellent. However, the Mainsail suffers from a rather low specific impulse, especially in a vacuum.

The Mainsail also tends to quickly explode from overheating when run on maximum throttle, especially when placed under a Rockomax Jumbo 64 Fuel Tank, where it will overheat within 5-15 seconds of maximum thrust, so be careful not to use maximum throttle on a Mainsail unless low on fuel or doing a short burn. Overheat-safe throttle levels are about 60 % when mounted under the Jumbo-64, and about 80 % otherwise.

Description

A monster of an engine for heavy lifting purposes, the Mainsail's power rivals that of entire small nations.

Rockomax Conglomerate

Created by: NovaSilisko

Changes

0.18
  • Overheats much faster
0.17
  • (Undocumented) Renamed, thrust increased (1200 -> 1500), weight decreased (7 -> 6), new description
0.16
  • Initial Release