Centurion engines

The Centurion engines are rocket engines specifically designed for small launch vehicles, aiming to make small satellite launch businesses more competitive. They are priced at $150,000 per unit and are engineered for reliability and reusability. The development of these engines is overseen and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation / Space division, ensuring thorough validation of their performance before sales. The design allows for stacking multiple Centurion engines, similar to how engines are used in aircraft or large semi-trucks, offering flexibility in rocket design. This low engine price is intended to enable startups to successfully enter and maintain viability in the small launch market. The manufacturer suggests that using these engines can significantly reduce rocket development expenditures, potentially cutting costs from $100M over 5 years to $20M over 2 years, by eliminating the need for an in-house engine development team. The page emphasizes the importance of external engine procurement to compete with rideshare options, suggesting that a small launch vehicle needs to cost $1.5-2M to be competitive. It recommends at least six engines for the first stage to ensure fault tolerance against a single engine-out failure, and that engines should be throttleable for reuse scenarios. The Centurion engines are positioned as a solution to the high costs and complexities associated with developing rocket engines internally, a common challenge for new space startups.