Thrust-Augmented Nozzles for Rocket Engines

The afterburner concept is adapted from turbojet to rocket engines.

The thrust-augmented nozzle (TAN) has been invented as a means of obtaining high performance from a rocket engine both during liftoff at sea-level atmospheric pressure and later during flight under near-vacuum conditions. In effect, the TAN rocket engine amounts to a booster rocket engine contained entirely within a sustainer rocket engine, and very little weight is associated with the incorporation of the TAN portion. Heretofore, it has been difficult or impossible to design the same rocket engine to perform well at both extremes of ambient pressure.