NASA’s latest engine prototype defies traditional rocket design by relying on continuous detonations to propel spacecraft.

The aerospike has been considered as a replacement for the bell-shaped nozzle rocket engine for nearly 70 years. The combination of artificial intelligence and 3D printing may finally make it happen.

The decision to use a pair of solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle instead of liquid-fuelled engines like the F-1 had been partly technical and partly political.

Each new engine iteration generated by the AI model is said to take minutes, compared to the months of work put into a conventional rocket engine design.

The Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine combustor during a 251-second hot fire test in fall 2023. Photo: NASA NASA just put its new propulsion system to the test, powering a 3D-printed rotating ...

This AI can think like an engineer—and it just designed a spaceship engine Noyron software harnesses the creativity and problem-solving of engineers to design advanced machinery autonomously.