ARCOS aerospike engine

Why it matters

Aerospikes have been studied for decades but rarely built. Pangea says it was the first to hot-fire a methane aerospike, and an engine rocket builders can buy would spare them running their own engine program.

How the technology works

Instead of a bell nozzle, exhaust flows along the outside of a central spike, so the surrounding air shapes the plume and the engine adapts as pressure falls during the climb. ARCOS uses a gas generator cycle and a 3D-printed two-material combustion chamber, and its modular design scales thrust for first stages, second stages and boosters.

Assembly is moving to Pangea's new plant near Barcelona.