Microwave thermal rocket engines operate by using microwave energy to heat a propellant, such as hydrogen, to generate thrust. The thrust is produced by the expulsion of the heated propellant. The mass flow rate of the propellant and the effective exhaust velocity determine the specific impulse.
If you have specific data on thrust, burn time, specific energy imparted, and the mass of propellant consumed during the operation of a microwave thermal rocket engine, you can use these formulas to calculate the specific impulse.
It is defined as the thrust generated per unit of propellant expended and is expressed in seconds.
where,
- is the specific impulse of the rocket engine (in seconds, s)
- F is the Thrust Produced
- ṁ is the mass flow rate of propellant in KG/Sec
- g0 is the acceleration due to gravity