Annular aerospike nozzle with widely-spaced thrust chambers, engine including the annular aerospike nozzle, and vehicle including the engine

An engine, comprising:

• a centerbody;
• a plurality of thrust chambers spaced around the centerbody, each thrust chamber including:
• a high pressure chamber that generates a gas for thrust;
• a nozzle portion that extends aft of the high pressure chamber and exhausts the gas generated by the high pressure chamber;
• the nozzle portion having an exit dimension Dexit at an aft end thereof;
• and
• a throat connecting the high pressure chamber to the nozzle portion;
• wherein each thrust chamber is spaced away from adjacent thrust chambers by a spacing distance Dspace, such that Dspace≥M*Dexit, where M≥1.

A vehicle, comprising:

• an engine including a centerbody and a plurality of thrust chambers spaced around the centerbody, each thrust chamber including:
• a high pressure chamber that generates a gas for thrust,
• a nozzle portion that extends aft of the high pressure chamber and exhausts the gas generated by the high pressure chamber, the nozzle portion having an exit dimension Dexit at an aft end, and
• a throat connecting the high pressure chamber to the nozzle portion;
• wherein each thrust chamber is spaced away from adjacent thrust chambers by a spacing distance Dspace, such that Dspace≥M*Dexit, where M≥1.