Official:Engines
Engines
For the test use in spacecraft, three main types of engines are commonly used and built: Chemical, Electrical and Nuclear. Chemical engines are powered by exothermic reactions (usually involving oxidation) of the propellant (fuel). They tend to be the cheapest type to implement, but require a specific fuel to be bought or manufactured and carried aboard the ship in large quantities. This is complicated by the high potential for an internal explosion upon collision during mining or combat operations. Electrical engines are the safest and easiest to use. However, the produced power efficiency is generally the lowest of any type.
One advantage is the ability to share the energy from the ship’s main power circle, thus eradicating the necessity to acquire and carry specific fuel. Nuclear engines are the most expensive and efficient types in terms of power output as well as the ratio of the amount of fuel rods required to supply prolonged usage. However, nuclear fuel is (apart from the black market) difficult to buy without a specially obtained license and the same applies to the difficulty of finding nuclear engines themselves.
Engine types:
Electrically powered (Electrostatic Ion thruster)
- Power source / fuel: Xenon (found in uranium and plutonium voxels) + electricity.
- High consumption of electricity, xenon is consumed only a little.
- Note: Electric thrusters typically offer much higher initial impulse; however, due to practical power source constraints sustained thrust is weaker compared to chemical thrusters by several orders of magnitude.
- After explosion, immediate area is polluted by radiation for few minutes.
| Name |
Force |
Weight |
Fuel consumption |
Electricity consumption |
| EL 1 |
1000 |
2000 kg |
0,01 liter / hour |
100 kW / hour |
| EL 2 |
1300 |
2500 kg |
0,01 liter / hour |
130 kW / hour |
| EL 3 |
2000 |
2800 kg |
0,01 liter / hour |
200 kW / hour |
| EL 4 |
2500 |
3000 kg |
0,01 liter / hour |
270 kW / hour |
| EL 5 |
5000 |
3800 kg |
0,01 liter / hour |
410 kW / hour |
Chemical powered
Power source / fuel: Helium, no electricity needed.
| Name |
Force |
Weight |
Fuel consumption |
Electricity consumption |
| CH 1 |
3000 |
1500 kg |
1 liter / hour |
no |
| CH 2 |
3500 |
2100 kg |
1,2 liter / hour |
no |
| CH 3 |
4000 |
3000 kg |
2 liter / hour |
no |
| CH 4 |
5000 |
3200 kg |
3 liter / hour |
no |
| CH 5 |
5500 |
4000 kg |
4 liter / hour |
no |
Nuclear powered (Nuclear thermal rocket)
- Power source / fuel: Uranium, no electricity needed
| Name |
Force |
Weight |
Fuel consumption |
Electricity consumption |
| NU 1 |
4000 |
3000 kg |
0,1 liter / hour |
no |
| NU 2 |
4500 |
3500 kg |
0,2 liter / hour |
no |
| NU 3 |
5500 |
5800 kg |
0,3 liter / hour |
no |
| NU 4 |
6200 |
7000 kg |
0,35 liter / hour |
no |
| NU 5 |
8000 |
8800 kg |
0,4 liter / hour |
no |
