Prove rotation
High-speed pressure measurements must show a persistent traveling detonation wave after the starter is isolated.
The research engine
Built to answer
the hard questions.
Resonance is the research engine from Detonation Rocketry at Illinois: a liquid oxygen and liquid methane rotating detonation rocket combustor. The first article is compact, actively cooled, and instrumented to tell us what actually happens inside.
PropellantsLOX + liquid methane
Nominal target~2 kN
CoolingActive water cooling
Test duration≥5 s first result / 10 s objective
01The article
See the engine from the inside.
Rotate the current concept assembly, reveal the internal geometry, or isolate its proposed coolant paths. This model makes the design direction tangible; it is not a released manufacturing drawing.
Resonance Gen 1 / concept assemblyDrag to orbit · Scroll to zoom
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Preliminary geometry. Interfaces and dimensions remain under review.
The concept visualizes a replaceable injector head, annular chamber, short nozzle, water-cooled walls, sensor locations, and a predetonator envelope. The cooling manifolds, structural joints, final nozzle transition, and predetonator hardware still require engineering review.
02What success means
Three results. One credible test.
Measure thrust
Calibrated force, flow, and pressure data will tell us how the engine performed—not just whether it lit.
Survive the run
Active cooling and post-test inspection must show the hot section can survive a sustained firing.
03The path ahead
From concept to measured hardware.
The work moves through design review, manufacturing and inspection, nonfiring checkout, and an instrumented static-fire campaign. Each step exists to retire a specific engineering question before the next one begins.
Help us build the next step- 01Design and review
- 02Manufacture and inspect
- 03Cold-flow and checkout
- 04Instrumented firing