For the first time since the 1960s, working rotating detonation rocket engines were created.

The system, known as a rotating detonation rocket motor, will allow upper stage rockets to

space missions are becoming easier,travel further and burn more cleanly. And for the first time, a team of researchers has provided experimental evidence of the safe and functional detonation of hydrogen and oxygen in a rotating detonation rocket engine.

Explosions occur when rotating denotationaround the inside of the rocket engine and are supported by the supply of hydrogen and oxygen to the system in the right quantities. This system improves the efficiency of the rocket engine, so that more energy is generated by using less fuel than traditional rocket energies, which reduces the load, costs and emissions.

Explosions create bursts of energy thatmove from 7200 to 9000 km per hour, which is more than five times the speed of sound. They are enclosed in a rugged engine housing made of copper and brass. The technology has been studied since the 1960s, but was not successful because of the chemical propellants used or how they were mixed. A team of researchers made the technology work by carefully balancing the consumption of fuel, hydrogen and oxygen released into the engine.

"We had to adjust the injector sizes,releasing propellants to improve mixing for the local hydrogen-oxygen mixture. This way, when the spinning explosion occurs for this fresh mixture, it is still preserved. Because if you have a slightly mixed composition, it will tend to deflagrate or burn slowly instead of exploding."

Karim Ahmed, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCF

The team also had to gather evidence.the existence of their invention. They did this by introducing a tracer into the stream of hydrogen fuel and quantifying the detonation waves using a high-speed camera.