Staged Combustion Rocket Engine Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- 36.6% concentration. The top five assignees combined hold 82 of the 224 records in scope — a little over a third of everything filed, with a long tail of single- and low-filing entrants behind them.
- Filing growth of +57%. Filings rose from 7 in 2021 to 11 in 2024, the last year the record can be treated as complete, after peaking at 23 filings in 2022.
- Jet propulsion dominates the classification mix. F02K covers 50.9% of the 224 records, more than triple the share sitting in aircraft-equipment class B64D, suggesting most activity is still framed as core propulsion hardware rather than airframe integration.
Filing growth compares 2021 (7 records) with 2024 (11) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 224 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Staged combustion cycles route a fraction of propellant through a preburner before the main chamber, using the resulting hot gas to drive the turbopump before it is burned again. The engineering literature and patent record both split this territory between oxidizer-rich and fuel-rich preburner designs, gas-generator variants that vent turbine exhaust rather than reburn it, and the control logic that manages turbopump power balance, chamber pressure ramp, and engine start sequence across that hardware. This dataset pulls 224 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine cycle-architecture language with these operational and performance terms.
Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 counts in this dataset are still filling in; the most recent year that can be read as a complete filing year is 2024. Family-level counting, used throughout this ranking, discounts the effect of continuations and multi-jurisdiction refiling that can otherwise inflate a single applicant's apparent output.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 224-record set: the pace of filing over time, and the classification codes those filings carry.
A decade of uneven filing activity
Filings climbed from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2022, then eased to 11 by 2024 — still 57% above the 2021 level of 7, even after the post-peak pullback. Read the 2025-2026 tail as incomplete rather than as a genuine slowdown.
Where the classification weight sits
F02K (jet and reaction propulsion) appears on 50.9% of the 224 records, with F02C (gas-turbine plants) and F23R (combustion chambers) close behind at 31.3% and 27.7%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares overlap rather than sum to 100%, and the pattern shows most filings anchoring in core propulsion and combustion-chamber hardware rather than in the thermal or aircraft-integration classes further down the list.
Shares are the percentage of the 224 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Staged Combustion Rocket Engine Cycles with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about staged combustion rocket engine cycles and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative claim and the most-cited prior art
Staged combustion cycle with turbopump and preburner integrated into the combustion chamber structure
Devices and methods of rocket propulsion are disclosed. In one aspect, a staged combustion liquid rocket engine with preburner and turbopump unit (TPU) integrated into the structure of the combustion chamber is described. An initial propellant mixture is combusted in a preburner combustion chamber formed as an annulus around a main combustion chamber, the combustion products from the preburner driving the turbine of the TPU and subsequently injected into the main combustion chamber for secondary combustion along with additional propellants, generating thrust through a supersonic nozzle. The preburner inner cylindrical wall is shared with the outer cylindrical wall of the engine's main combustion chamber.Filed by Special Aerospace Services, LLC; published 2023-07-25.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5932940A | Microturbomachinery | 326 |
| 2 | US6392313B1 | Microturbomachinery | 228 |
| 3 | US6095793A | Dynamic control system and method for catalytic combustion process and gas turbine engine utilizing same | 200 |
| 4 | US5507141A | Process for recovering energy from a combustible gas | 104 |
| 5 | US7152409B2 | Dynamic control system and method for multi-combustor catalytic gas turbine engine | 95 |
| 6 | US4621492A | Low loss injector for liquid propellant rocket engines | 94 |
| 7 | US6125625A | Low NOx conditioner system for a microturbine power generating system | 81 |
| 8 | US6619031B1 | Multi-mode multi-propellant liquid rocket engine | 74 |
| 9 | US4073138A | Mixed mode rocket engine | 74 |
| 10 | US5873546A | System and method for conducting one engine inoperative flight procedures training in a dual-engine helicopter | 71 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records such as the two microturbomachinery patents lead the table by volume rather than by current relevance — treat them as markers of influence on the field's vocabulary, not as the newest technical positions.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about where this field stands
Three readings of the same dataset: concentration among filers, the shape of growth, and the classification footprint.
A moderately concentrated field, not a monopoly
The leader holds 22 records and the fifth-ranked assignee holds 11 — a fast drop-off that still leaves the top five well short of a majority. Below tenth place, at 6 records, the ranking thins into a long tail of smaller and single-filing entrants across the full 84-company list.
Activity accelerated through the early 2020s
Filings rose from 7 in 2021 to 11 in 2024 after peaking at 23 in 2022, a pattern consistent with a wave of new entrants filing around the same period rather than one applicant scaling alone. The 2025-2026 counts are too fresh to read as a trend reversal given the usual publication lag.
Core propulsion hardware dominates the filing language
F02K (jet and reaction propulsion) leads at 50.9% of the 224 records, well ahead of F23C combustion apparatus at 16.1% and F01K steam/thermal power plants at 11.2%. The gap between the top classification and the mid-tier ones suggests most applicants are still claiming engine-cycle hardware directly rather than adjacent thermal-management or airframe-integration angles.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to staged combustion rocket engine cycles, with the prior art for and against each one.
The assignee landscape
84 companies appear in the ranking behind these 224 records, from an aerospace and defense leader with 22 filings down to a long tail of single-record entrants.
One clear leader, no runaway monopoly
The top-ranked assignee holds 22 of the 224 records — meaningful but well short of dominance, and closely trailed by other established aerospace and turbine-technology firms rather than a single outsized incumbent.
A steep but not cliff-like drop-off
Filing counts fall from 22 at the top to 6 by tenth place, then continue thinning across the rest of the 84-company ranking — evidence of an established core of repeat filers rather than a field dominated by one applicant.
Collaboration is limited and inventor-anchored
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest links pair a corporate assignee with a named individual inventor rather than two companies jointly filing — a sign that most work here is filed solo rather than through formal joint development.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Catalytica Energy Systems | 0 | — |
| General Electric Co | 0 | -100% |
| VENUS AEROSPACE CORP | 0 | -100% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 0 | — |
| Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne | 0 | — |
| Raytheon Co | 0 | — |
| CHEMREC AB | 0 | — |
| Woodward, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with an identifiable core cluster and open edges. Two directions are worth following up with a deeper, claim-level review.
Map claim scope inside the F02K/F02C core
With over half of records carrying F02K and nearly a third carrying F02C, a claim-chart review of the leading assignees' independent claims would clarify how much of the core cycle architecture is actually blocked versus merely adjacent.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the post-2022 filer cohort
The jump from 7 filings in 2021 to a 2022 peak of 23 suggests a cohort of newer entrants filed around the same window; identifying which of those are still active heading into 2024-2026 would sharpen any freedom-to-operate view.
Explore assignee momentum in EurekaCommon questions about staged combustion rocket engine patents
This dataset identifies 224 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine staged combustion cycle language with operational terms such as turbopump power balance and chamber pressure ramp. That figure reflects one search scope and search string, not every patent that touches rocket propulsion; a broader or narrower query would return a different count. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 counts within this window are still incomplete and will rise as more applications publish.
The ranking covers 84 assignees, and the leading one holds 22 of the 224 records in scope, with the fifth-ranked holder at 11. That is a meaningful lead but not a monopoly: the top five combined hold 36.6% of all records, leaving nearly two-thirds spread across a long tail of smaller filers. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should look at the ranked leaders' claim scope directly rather than assume concentration equals blocking coverage.
Filings grew 57% from 2021 (7 filings) to 2024 (11 filings), after peaking at 23 filings in 2022. The apparent decline after 2022 should be read cautiously: 2024 is the most recent year in this dataset that can be treated as a complete filing year, and 2025-2026 figures are still filling in due to the normal 18-month gap between filing and publication. On the evidence available, the field shows sustained rather than slowing activity through its last complete year.
Both terms appear in this search scope because they describe closely related turbopump-drive architectures: a gas generator cycle burns a propellant fraction and vents the turbine exhaust overboard or into the nozzle skirt, while a staged combustion cycle routes that same turbine exhaust back into the main chamber for a second combustion stage. Patent claims in this space typically distinguish the two by how the preburner exhaust is routed and reused, and by whether the preburner runs fuel-rich or oxidizer-rich. The representative filing in this dataset, US11708804B2, illustrates the staged combustion variant by integrating the preburner directly into the main chamber's structural wall.
Relative to the dense core of F02K, F02C and F23R filings, classes tied to turbine inlet temperature control, autogenous pressurization sequencing and chamber-integrated preburner structures carry comparatively thinner coverage in this dataset. That does not guarantee those areas are unpatented, but it does suggest the claim density is lower than in the core cycle-architecture classes. A targeted prior-art search on those specific sub-areas is the appropriate next step before relying on this as a clearance signal.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.