Date:                          5.8.25
Location:                 31-270 
Time:                          4-5pm

Speaker:                   Professor Zachary Cordero, Edgerton Career Development Professor of Aeronautics and Astronatics, MIT

Title:                            Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Reusable Rockets

Abstract

High-performance reusable rocket engines recently developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin, and newer ones in development for low-cost heavy-lift launch vehicles will enable next-generation space economics and accessibility. Unlike expendable rocket engines, which are optimized for reliability, weight and fuel efficiency, reusable rocket engines must also consider the competing criteria of re-entry and launch cycle life (reusability). Challenges include temperature swings from cryogenic temperatures to over 2,000 C, high pressures and heat fluxes, and ultra-high-pressure oxygen environments. These give rise to potentially catastrophic failure modes, from metal fires and oxidation-assisted fatigue to strain-ratcheting-driven rupture. Legacy materials were used to design and fabricate current reusable rocket engines. Companies are now racing to update technology and develop new platforms, but the challenges are formidable and require collaborative teams. There are also exciting opportunities to apply modern design and development tools and to exploit huge advances in materials over the past 20 years to specifically tailor materials to meet the extreme environments of reusable propulsion systems. This talk will describe my group’s work along these lines, leveraging modern materials design, advanced manufacturing, and generative AI design tools to develop and manufacture the specialized materials that will power the future of spaceflight.
 

Biography

Zack Cordero is the Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT where he leads the Aerospace Materials and Structures Laboratory. He received an SB in physics and a PhD in materials science and engineering from MIT. Prior to joining the MIT faculty, Zack held appointments as a postdoctoral fellow in the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and as an assistant professor in the Materials Science and NanoEngineering department at Rice University. Zack’s research at MIT seeks to enable frontier aviation and space platforms through advanced materials, manufacturing, and structures.