Propulsion is responsible for generating and controlling the energy that accelerates the IREC launch vehicle. The subteam develops the hardware and analysis required to safely store, route, regulate, inject, and convert propellant into thrust.

The team's scope extends beyond the combustion device itself. Propulsion integrates the feed system, tanks, valves, injector, combustion hardware, plumbing, ground-support equipment, instrumentation, test infrastructure, and structural interfaces required to operate the propulsion system safely and predictably.

Because propulsion directly determines thrust, acceleration, burn duration, and a large portion of the vehicle's flight environment, its performance influences nearly every other IREC subsystem.

The propulsion system is developed as a complete fluid-mechanical system rather than a collection of independent components.

The primary architecture includes propellant storage, pressure regulation, feed lines, valves, injector hardware, combustion hardware, structural interfaces, instrumentation, ground-support equipment, and test infrastructure.

Each component must operate under the same pressure, temperature, mass-flow, mechanical, and safety requirements. A change to one part of the system can affect pressure losses, mass flow, combustion behavior, structural loads, vehicle mass, packaging, and ultimately trajectory.

The feed system controls how propellant moves from storage into the combustion system.

Its design requires careful consideration of tank pressure, regulator performance, line diameter, pressure losses, fittings, valves, flow rate, fluid properties, operating temperature, transient behavior, and component pressure ratings.

The objective is to provide the required mass flow to the injector while maintaining stable and predictable operating conditions.

Members working on the feed system can apply fluid mechanics directly to real hardware through pressure-drop calculations, line sizing, regulator selection, valve sizing, flow characterization, and system testing.

Valves determine when, where, and how propellant moves through the propulsion system.

Depending on the application, the team may evaluate ball valves, check valves, solenoid valves, regulators, relief devices, isolation valves, and remotely actuated flow-control hardware.

Valve selection involves more than choosing a pressure rating. Engineers must consider flow coefficient, opening time, actuation force, compatibility, sealing, leakage, pressure drop, failure position, temperature range, weight, and integration with the rest of the system.

For actuated valves, Propulsion also works with Embedded Systems to ensure that the mechanical hardware, electrical actuation, command logic, and safety interlocks operate together correctly.

The injector is responsible for introducing propellant into the combustion region in a controlled and repeatable manner.

Injector design affects mass flow, pressure drop, atomization or mixing, combustion stability, efficiency, chamber conditions, and overall system performance.

Design work can include orifice sizing, injector geometry, flow-area calculations, pressure-drop targets, material selection, manufacturability, and testing.

Because small geometry changes can significantly affect flow behavior, injector development is an area where analysis, machining, and experimental validation must work together closely.

The combustion system converts stored chemical energy into the high-temperature, high-pressure flow required to generate thrust.

Important considerations include chamber pressure, combustion temperature, burn duration, mixture ratio, thermal loading, material limits, structural loads, ignition behavior, combustion stability, and repeatability.

The design must produce the required performance while remaining mechanically robust and compatible with the surrounding propulsion and vehicle architecture.

Combustion hardware is therefore developed through an iterative process of analysis, manufacturing, inspection, testing, and redesign.