The NEPTUNE rocket would use high-performance liquid oxygen and densified propane propellants. Throttling of these engines allows for precise control of pitch, yaw, and roll during flight. Other versions used a single, 7,500-lb thrust engine, and/or a mixture of
WFNA and
turpentine for propellants. All versions would be fed propellants through a proprietary pressurant system, claimed to reduce the weight of the propellant tank/pressurant system to an equivalent of a traditional pump-fed system. By removing the propellant pump and the associated heavy electric or gas-generator pump-drive system, Interorbital Systems proposes to significantly reduce both the overall rocket development cost and the manufacturing time, leading to cost savings and improved efficiency in the manufacturing process. The NEPTUNE N1 rocket is proposed to use a single CPM, combined with a liquid-fuel upper stage powered by a single stationary ablatively cooled liquid rocket engine that generates 3,000 pounds of thrust, for a total height of and mass of . During the second stage engine burn and while in orbit, pitch, yaw, and roll control would be provided by cold-gas thrusters. The N3, N5, and N7 were planned to be using 3, 5 and 7 CPMs respectively, while carrying 18, 30 and 75kg to 310km polar circular orbit. Another proposed version was the N36, using 36 CPMs for a payload of 1000kg to LEO, proposed to carry the
Synergy Moon lander for the Google Lunar X Prize and a notional 2-person crew capsule. Other sources call N5 the "Neptune 30" (after its intended payload mass) and have the 1000kg configuration with only 33 CPMs, and also mention a 84-unit Neptune 4000, intended to carry a six-person space tourism capsule. All Interorbital Systems (IOS) rockets are described as being launchable from an ocean barge equipped with motion compensation technology. Initially, IOS plans to conduct orbital flights from the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles.
Preliminary design concepts Solaris was a suborbital rocket design developed by IOS in the early 2000s. The intention behind the Solaris project was to compete for the
Ansari X Prize. However, the rocket was not completed in time, and it was surpassed by
Scaled Composites'
SpaceShipOne, which successfully claimed the prize. a sounding rocket designed for suborbital flights reaching an apogee of 120 miles.
Milestones The main engine of the Common Propulsion Module (CPM) underwent its first successful static engine firing on October 28, 2012. This composite chambered engine generated 7,500 pounds of thrust and used nitric acid and turpentine propellants. A
boilerplate of the Common Propulsion Module Test Vehicle (CPM TV) weighing with its payload completed its inaugural test flight on March 29, 2014, achieving a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet. The payloads on board included two
CubeSats, a payload from
Synergy Moon, and a music CD titled "
ENCLOSURE" by
John Frusciante, former guitarist of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers. The CPM TV will be reused for future test flights, and all payloads were successfully recovered without damage. == Satellite kits ==