Low-Cost and Green Solid Propellants for Space Propulsion

Ammonium Nitrate (AN), an inorganic solid oxidizer used in rocket propulsion decades ago, produces environmentally friendly combustion products and it is a very cheap energetic material. The main objective of this work is to propose AN-based formulations as good candidates for low cost and green propellant for space exploration. Experiments were performed on several categories of solid compositions: (1) neat AN burning as a solid monopropellant or with minor additives; (2) AN-based metallized propellants; (3) AN+AP (dual oxidizer)-based metallized propellants; and (4) a variety of propellants based on phase-stabilized AN.