Could this super capacitor be up scaled to be of use in the lower stages of a rocket?
Here is the only information I found online on this?
Related: Could rockets launched from the ground use wings in the stages?
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$\begingroup$ I think using propellors to launch to space has been ruled out in previous answers, as well as any electrical form of propulsion, but I'm not 100% sure. It is a fun video though! $\endgroup$– uhohApr 21, 2019 at 8:07
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No
Even if overall design makes a helicopter lifted first stage sensible you still need good energy density (power per KG of energy storage). Super capacitors have a special properties that make them useful but energy density by weight is not one of them.
Going off the linked (and plausibly out of date) table they would need to be ten times better to equal basic Li-ion batteries and a thousand times better to equal jet fuel for a rotor lifted first stage.
One application that is worth watching for high density/high discharge rate electrical power is with turbo pumps, as per Electron where electric drive offers some advantages over the design complexity/cost inherent in combustion driven pumps.
answered Apr 21, 2019 at 8:23