At a quiet Swiss airfield, a copper rocket engine suddenly roared to life — not with normal combustion, but with shockwaves spinning inside the chamber thousands of times every second.
The engine was built by students from ETH Zurich’s ARIS space initiative, and after an earlier failed attempt, the second ignition finally worked. Sensors confirmed three rotating detonation waves racing through the engine, something only a handful of teams worldwide have achieved.
Unlike conventional engines, rotating detonation rocket engines use controlled explosions to generate thrust more efficiently. That matters because fuel makes up most of a rocket’s mass. Even small efficiency gains can reshape launch economics.
For a student-led project, this was unusually ambitious. And surprisingly close to real next-generation space technology.
