B.J. Austin

President

BJ AustinMr. B.J. Austin has served as the President and General Manager of IN Space LLC since the company’s founding in 2003. In addition to overseeing the day-to-date operations of the business, Mr. Austin is the firm’s primary principal investigator/engineer. Under his direction, IN Space has worked on many rocket propulsion research and development programs including the development of a new ignition system to substantially reduce boost vehicle engine weight (MDA Phase II STTR), exploring ignition schemes for advanced monopropellants under development by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), determining the performance of advanced fuels under development by AFRL, investigating an innovative injector for missile interceptor divert thrusters (MDA Phase I SBIR), and studying the thermal decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (MDA Phase I SBIR).

Mr. Austin’s expertise in the field of rocket propulsion includes:

  • liquid injector designs (pintle, bi-centrifugal swirl, transverse, impinging jet) up to the 10,000 lbf thrust level,
  • liquid rocket engine design for both flight weight and laboratory test article applications,
  • pressure-fed and pump-fed propellant feed system designs,
  • parametric vehicle and engine mass modeling for applications ranging from launch vehicles to missile interceptors
  • hydrogen peroxide monopropellant, bipropellant, and hybrid test stand design, and
  • testing support/data analysis for third party components and designs.

Prior to his position with IN Space, Mr. Austin was the Director of the Advanced Propellants and Combustion Laboratory at Purdue University. While at Purdue, Mr. Austin conducted research on projects during this period for organizations including NASA Dryden, NASA Marshall, Aerojet, Pratt and Whitney, KB Sciences, and the U.S. Air Force Research Labs. He implemented many feed system and data collection improvements to the existing test stand facilities. Mr. Austin also advised and oversaw on the design, experiment buildup, and testing of several student projects in rocket propulsion.

Mr. Austin received both his Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (B.S.A.A.E. ’99) and his Master of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (M.S.A.A.E. ’02) from Purdue University.

Select Publications:

  1. Hawkins, T. W., Brand, A. J., Drake, G. W., Austin, B. J., and Heister, S. D., “Development of Bipropellants Based on Ionic Liquid Fuel,” JANNAF Propellants Subcommittee Meeting, Seattle, WA, July 2004.
  2. Corpening, J., Heister, S., Anderson, W., and Austin, B. “A Model for the Thermal Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide,” AIAA No. 2004-3373, 40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 11–14, 2004.
  3. Austin, B. and Anderson, W. “Vacuum Ignition of Nontoxic Hypergolic Propellants,” 39th Combustion Subcommittee, JANNAF, Colorado Springs, CO, Dec. 1–5, 2003.
  4. Miller, K., Sisco, J., Austin, B., and Martin, T., “Design and Ground Testing of a Hydrogen Peroxide/Kerosene Combustor for RBCC Application,” AIAA No. 2003-4477, 39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, 2003.†
  5. Sisco, J. C., Austin, B. L., Mok, J. S., and Anderson, W. E., “Auto ignition of Kerosene by Decomposed Peroxide in a Dump Combustor Configuration,” AIAA No. 2003-4921, 39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, 2003.
  6. Austin, B. L. and Heister, S. D., “Characterization of Pintle Engine Performance for Nontoxic Hypergolic Propellants,” 38th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, Indianapolis, IN, July 2002.
  7. Austin, B., Matthews, J., and Heister, S. D., “Engine/Injector Development for New Nontoxic, Storable, Hypergolic Bipropellants,” 13th Propulsion Engineering Research Center Annual Symposium on Propulsion, Huntsville, AL, 2001.

† Liquid Propulsion Technical Committee “Best Paper” for the AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 2003 Joint Propulsion Conference