Aerospace propulsion - an introduction

The articles [BM 3 000] , [BM 3 001] , [BM 3 002] and [BM 3 003] are intended as an introduction to propulsion systems for aircraft, rockets, missiles, probes, satellites... The present article, the first in the series, provides a basic introduction to the subject.

The following articles review the essential concepts of flight, the aerodynamic and thermodynamic formulas used in propulsion, at the pre-project stage, as well as the different levels of modeling and simplified design laws for cruise, acceleration and initially powered ballistic flight.

In this article, particular attention is paid to the link with the design of the flying vehicle whose propulsion is to be studied, and to the orders of magnitude of the parameters associated with a given level of technology.

The examples and data provided are taken from the open literature, sometimes deliberately left in English, as the applications of these engines inevitably lead to restrictions on certain particular points of the propulsion systems from a commercial or military point of view.