This is a link to an external research article.

This research article evaluates aerospike rocket engines as a potential successor to conventional bell nozzles. It argues that aerospikes can maintain higher efficiency across a wider range of altitudes through altitude compensation, overcoming a key limitation of traditional rocket nozzles. The paper finds that historical aerospike programs were constrained primarily by materials and manufacturing limitations rather than flaws in the concept itself, and concludes that modern advances in additive manufacturing, high-performance alloys, and computational design have made the technology increasingly viable for future launch vehicles and spacecraft.