Condensation of Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide
in the Jet Exhausts of Rocket Engines: 1. Model Calculation
of the Physical Conditions in a Jet Exhaust

Yu. V. Platov^a, V. V. Alpatov^b, and V. Yu. Klyushnikov^c

^a Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Kaluzhskoe shosse 4, Troitsk, Moscow oblast, 142190 Russia

^b Fedorov Institute of Applied Geophysics, ul. Rostokinskaya 9, Moscow, 129128 Russia

^c Federal State Unitary Enterprise Central Research Institute of Machine Construction,
ul. Pionerskaya 4, Korolev, Moscow oblast, 141070 Russia

e-mail: yplatov@izmiran.ru

Received June 5, 2012

Abstract—Model calculations have been performed for the temperature and pressure of combustion products
in the jet exhaust of rocket engines of last stages of Proton, Molniya, and Start launchers operating in the upper
atmosphere at altitudes above 120 km. It has been shown that the condensation of water vapor and carbon diox-
ide can begin at distances of 100–150 and 450–650 m away from the engine nozzle, respectively.

DOI: 10.1134/S0016793214010113

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