Kronos

KRONOS is Pangea Aerospace’s high-thrust engine program, intended to become Europe’s first full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine and the most powerful engine ever conceived on the continent. It is purpose-built for heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles, engineered from the outset for reusability, maximum efficiency and cutting-edge (bi-material additive) manufacturing. The FFSC cycle is a closed-cycle architecture that enables higher chamber pressures, better cooling and improved reusability compared with simpler open-cycle engines, delivering over 100 tons of thrust for heavy-lift and deep-space missions with high thrust density that facilitates engine clustering. KRONOS runs on methalox (LOX/methane) propellant for efficiency, reusability and reduced environmental footprint, and is designed with a modular interface adaptable to different launch-vehicle stages. Both the final thrust specification and engine models remain in development. KRONOS is the subject of a European Space Agency contract tasking Pangea with identifying de-risking technologies and designing a Very High Thrust rocket engine (over 2 MN of thrust) for future European reusable launchers; Pangea leads a European consortium on this work including Safran, Sabca, Apco Technologies, Spacedreams, Empa, Politecnico di Milano and Latitude. Applications targeted include heavy and super-heavy European and international launch vehicles and high-capacity, reusable orbital transport systems. KRONOS is part of Pangea’s Dare/MFP/Thrust programs.