The LOUZEIRO Propulsion System transitions the oxidiser — not the hardware. A catalytic high-test-peroxide continuum hands over smoothly to captured atmospheric air as Mach number rises, burning a hydrocarbon fuel throughout, inside a single perimeter-optimised combustor.
Wide-envelope flight is normally handled by combined-cycle engines that switch between operating modes — paying for breadth with thrust discontinuities, extra moving parts and a mass penalty. The LOUZEIRO Propulsion System asks a different question: what if the transition happened in the oxidiser rather than in the hardware?
High-test peroxide is decomposed catalytically to supply an oxygen-rich hot gas at rest. The share of oxidiser drawn from that source is then reduced smoothly — following a transition function χ(M) — as captured air takes over with rising Mach. No discrete mode switch; one continuous curve.
An oblate, elliptical cross-section adopted for structural and thermal reasons rather than propulsive ones: more uniform stress distribution and improved regenerative cooling relative to conventional cylindrical chambers. The geometry is a means to robustness, not a performance claim.
What is described publicly is qualitative: the mathematical character of χ(M) and qualitative CFD outcomes. The calibrations that turn the concept into a built object are retained as protected industrial know-how.
This work is offered as a contribution of positioning. It places a dated, citable public record in the technical space left open after Reaction Engines, and invites qualified scrutiny from the propulsion community before experimental work begins.
Wide-envelope air-breathing propulsion is an active field with public programmes underway across Europe. A single-chamber concept that removes the discrete mode switch addresses a recognised pain point in combined-cycle architectures — and does so with a storable, green oxidiser rather than cryogenic hydrogen.
The conceptual framework and its parameter ranges are registered through provisional patent filings. The optimised eccentricity, the calibration of χ(M) and the quantitative CFD results are retained as protected industrial know-how.
Mário Pedro Louzeiro e Rodrigues is an independent researcher based in Lisbon, Portugal, and sole inventor of the LOUZEIRO Propulsion System. His work brings together two decades of service as a Flight Surgeon (Aviation Medicine) in the Portuguese Air Force and an analytical approach to propulsion architecture.
The framework is developed independently and presented here for qualified technical scrutiny, ahead of any experimental programme.