Current rockets are using polluting, explosive, corrosive, toxic, carcinogenic propellants. At launch, a rocket releases polluting chemicals into the atmosphere as much as 1 million cars running simultaneously.
ARCA created an electric, water-based rocket that works as first stage, or booster for launch vehicles, allowing the reduction of polluting propellant with around 25%, or boost the payload capability with around 30% pollution free. But LAS isn't only clean is unprecedently safe and cost effective. LAS is built in two versions, using a classic bell shaped nozzle engine and a higher efficiency aerospike engine.

But how such water-based, electric rocket engine works?
The rocket tank is filled with 98% water and benign phase destabilizers. In the tank, the water is electrically heated to 250 deg.C. When the water is injected into the engine, part of it evaporates. A second heating phase occurs in the engine powered by high discharge LiPo batteries. The same type of batteries used by ARCA to power the cutting edge, 700kW ArcaBoard. At 21MW for LAS 25R, the amount of electric energy released during engine run is more than what a small nuclear reactor generates. Solar and wind power can recharge the rocket’s batteries after each launch.

Using water as propellant has another groundbreaking advantage: cost. Decades long efforts of the industry to reduce launch cost were unsuccessful. The root cause of rocket’s high cost is the type of propellants and related complexity. They are polluting, volatile, explosive, corrosive, toxic, cryogenic, carcinogenic, requiring extreme safety measures, complex fabrication and operations. These ultimately lead to an unavoidable end result: extremely high costs.

ARCA tested initially the classic engine and then the aerospike engine for the Launch Assist System on the same stand, using the same tank and same feed system, same pressures, same sensors, allowing us to further find unprecedented answers regarding the direct comparison between the two engine configurations.

Read more about the LAS technology: White Paper, Press Release LAS.

Aerospike engine: Press Release Aerospike.

The Haas 2CA, a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) rocket, is able to launch 100 kg (220lbs) of payload into low earth orbit at $1million/launch. The rocket has an exceptional mass ratio and it has one stage that is fueled by hydrogen peroxyde and kerosene. The SSTO configuration is made possible by the use of:

- the thrust vectoring control achieved by throttling 8 out of 16 combustion chambers, eliminating the heavy and complex gimballing system for the engine.

ARCA's Haas 2CA Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) rocket uses a linear aerospike engine. The aerospike engine was extensively tested on the ground by NASA and Rocketdyne and it was a strong contender for the Space Shuttle. It was also part of NASA’s VentureStar, a Single Stage to Orbit vehicle. Due to schedule and budget constraints, the Space Shuttle received a classic bell shaped nozzle engine and the VentureStar was canceled before getting to see an actual flight. Therefore the aerospike engine never saw a space flight to this day. In March 2017 however, ARCA Space Corporation brought this technology back to the public’s attention, by introducing the Haas 2CA Single Stage to Orbit rocket, equipped with the Executor Aerospike linear rocket engine.

Since the successful development of the Launch Assist System, ARCA is committed to build an orbital launcher as clean as possible. For the first orbital flight, the Haas 2CA rocket weighting more than 16 tons at launch, will use the LAS 25R as first stage, reducing it’s polluting propellant mass from 16 to only 4 tons.

Haas 2CA will operate on the nano/micro satellites market which is based on a SpaceWorks and Eurostat forecast indicating 3,000 satellites between 1- 50kg will require a launch between 2016-2022. The total market value is estimated to be $5.3 billion in the next decade. At $1,000,000/launch the Haas 2CA perfectly fits into this market seeking economical solutions.

The Haas 2CA is the development base for the whole Haas rocket series.