Characteristic velocity - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

Characteristic velocity or c ∗ , or C-star, pronounced "see star," is a measure of the combustion performance of a rocket engine independent of nozzle performance, and is used to compare different propellants and propulsion systems.

Formula

c ∗ = p 1 × A t m ˙

c ∗ is the characteristic velocity (meters/second)

p 1 is the chamber pressure (pascals)

A t is the area of the throat (square meters)

m ˙ is the mass flow rate of the engine (kilograms per second)

References

Characteristic velocity Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA