Spacecraft for missions to the surface of moon or mars require drastically varying levels of thrust during descent and landing phases. Bi-propellant liquid fueled descent engines with deep throttling capability are able to provide this broad range of thrust levels at a high level of specific impulse with a single engine component instead of using a large number of clustered engines combined with a complex propulsion system. In addition to the increased simplicity of the lander propulsion system, an engine designed for deep throttling is naturally applicable for a broad range of missions and spacecraft sizes with different thrust requirements. It could therefore serve as a plug-and-play propulsion component for future lander missions and consequently lead to decreased development cost and time. Key to this crucial deep throttling capability is a suitable injection system. This activity aims at developing an injection system for liquid oxygen and methane (LOX/methane or LOX/LNG) capable of deep throttling down to 10% of the nominal thrust level.
