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 RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine is one of the heaviest and most powerful large-diameter liquid fuel engines among the stock parts.

Product description

“

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

”

Usage

The Mainsail 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. It has a reasonably high atmospheric I_sp of 285 s, but a low vacuum I_sp of 310 s.

It is a common choice for lifting large stacks of liquid fuel tanks into orbit and beyond, or propelling large heavy lift vehicles. As of version 1.11.1, this is one of four size 2 engines in the base game. 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. The specific impulse is also fairly good, though it can still consume 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 limiting the gimbaling is often recommended.

Appearance as of 1.3

Trivia

• Prior to version 0.22 the Mainsail would tend to quickly explode from overheating when run on maximum throttle and placed under a Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank. Placing a small strut or fuel tank between the engine and the Jumbo-64 will mitigate this.
• Prior to version 0.23.5 it was the largest engine, as well as the one with the highest thrust. Those titles, however, are now held by the S3 KS-25x4 Engine Cluster. The equally-sized LFB KR-1x2 "Twin-Boar" Liquid Fuel Engine, introduced in the same version, is also more powerful.
• The 1.9 reskin made Mainsail resembles Vulcain, albeit overpowered. In the stock included Ariane 5, the Mainsail's thrust is lowered to 73.5%

• The reskin also gave the Mainsail a new cfg file; the old one can be found here.

Changes

1.9

• New texture and variants

1.1

• Renamed from RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Engine to RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine

0.24

• Cost increased (850 → 5650), specific impulse increased (280-330 → 320-360)

0.22

• heatProduction reduced from 500 to 400, as a work around to heat transfer bugs with the Jumbo-64

0.17

• Renamed from LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine to Rockomax "Mainsail" Liquid Engine, thrust increased (1200 → 1500), mass decreased (7 → 6), new description

0.16

• Initial release