Company developing a hybrid rocket
Vaya Space aims to use recycled plastic as fuel
Vaya Space’s goal is to reduce plastics on our planet by taking them off the planet, using plastics as fuel with its Star-3D propulsion system.
The smell of melting plastic filled the work area of a space company early one morning. It was the smell of recycled plastic beads being converted into solid rocket fuel grains.
This is not your traditional rocket company, as the plan is not only to have a hybrid powered rocket, but to use recycled plastic as solid rocket fuel.
It may sound far-fetched, but this is Vaya Space, a company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cocoa, Florida.
And progress is being made, with the company catching the attention of Lockheed Martin and NASA.
Founded by former NASA astronaut Sid Gutierrez, the company takes its name from something said during Gutierrez’s final shuttle flight, STS-59 on the shuttle Endeavor. While preparing to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, instead of the traditional “Godspeed,” launch director Bob Sieck told the crew “Vaya con Dios,” which translates to “God be with you as you go.”
Vaya Space’s goal is to reduce plastics on our planet by taking them off the planet, using plastics as fuel with its Star-3D propulsion system.
Designing, building the Dauntless
Vaya Space is developing and testing its hybrid rocket known as Dauntless, which stands just under 115 feet tall − for reference, that’s approximately half the size of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. That works out to about the size of a 10-story building.
“The thing that makes us unique is we leverage hybrid engine technology, as opposed to liquid by propellant technology that you’ll see on most rockets,” Vaya Space’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lowdermilk said.
Other rockets either use exclusively a liquid or solid propellant. For example, the SpaceX Falcon 9 is powered by liquid propellant, fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The flow of the liquid can be controlled by launch teams.
A solid rocket booster, however, operates by the lighting of the solid fuel for power. An example is the United Launch Alliance Atlas V’s five (small) solid boosters, which are mounted around the center core liquid booster. The two side boosters of the Space Shuttle were also solid rockets. Once the solid booster is ignited, it cannot be stopped.
Vaya’s goal is to have a core rocket that produces the power of a solid propellant with the controllability of a liquid propellant. Its aim also is to create a “green” rocket that uses recycled plastic as fuel. Lowdermilk called the hybrid rocket engine “elegant simplicity.”
The rocket works by allowing liquid oxygen to flow toward the plastic (solid) fuel grain, which resembles a large plastic tube. Laser igniters provide heat, igniting the center of the plastic fuel grain. Lowdermilk said that close to 20 metric tons of recycled plastic will be used as fuel on each flight.
Chief Operating Officer Robert Fabian described the rocket as a “cylinder” with a hole down the middle.
“The oxidizer (liquid oxygen) goes out of the tank (separate liquid oxygen tank in the rocket), through our nozzle,” Fabian said. “We’re using liquid oxygen to cool the nozzle in flight so it doesn’t melt from the heat. That heats up the liquid oxygen, it runs up to the front end of the fuel grain, through our patented injector, and (out) into the center core of this nozzle. And then the fuel grain just burns from the inside out.”
Lowdermilk said that by using a recycled plastic solid fuel in the core, it allows for less propellant than would otherwise go into a liquid fueled rocket. This in turn allows for lower cost and weight.
The solid plastic fuel grains are not created in a traditional way. Inside the
Vaya Space headquarters is a large 3D printer that uses small plastic pellets, which resemble crafting beads, and a computer model to sculpt the solid rocket fuel.
Each of these fuel grains are 20 feet long and approximately 3 feet around.
The company 3D prints close to 70% of the rocket, including parts such as injectors and nozzles.
Turning heads at NASA
Vaya Space has caught the attention of NASA, with the organization inquiring about an in-space propulsion engine.
“Essentially what it allows us to do is put our engine on satellites going into space, and when the satellites need to move quickly − to get out of the way of debris, to get out of the way of potential threats, other kinds of variables − we can start the engine, get out of the way, and when the threat passes, move the engine back to where it needs to be. And that capability doesn’t exist today,” Lowdermilk said.
The company is currently in the testing and development phase with hopes to launch as soon as the second half of 2026.
The Dauntless will launch from Space Force Launch Complex 13, which is currently where Falcon 9 boosters land when not landing on a drone ship.
Once SpaceX’s lease is up next year, Vaya Space and Phantom Space, based in Tucson, Arizona, will take over the site. SpaceX has plans to relocate its landing site farther north, but the exact location is not currently known.
Vaya Space as a defense company
Lowdermilk said that most missiles today utilize solid rocket motors, which only provide limited control and range.
“They’re great motors, but they’re limited in terms of their capability,” Lowdermilk said. “And a hybrid engine allows us to start, stop, throttle our engines, which for the military gives them a substantially better range, substantially better maneuverability for all the different missile types.”