astronautix.com | KS-50 |
From 1947 the German team at Khimki was completing build of ten KS-59 'Lilliput' subscale versions of a radical new engine design. This featured a flat-plate injector, cylindrical combustion chamber, and a 60 atmosphere chamber pressure. The first engine was completed at the end of 1948. These were conceived by the Germans to test the design planned for the G-4/R-14. From the summer of 1949 to April 1950 100 tests were made of the engine. Although primarily intended to prove the use of Lox/Kerosene propellants, a wide range of propellants were tested, including exotic fluorine compounds and suspended beryllium hydride fuels. The Lilliput endured them all.