RocketAgent: A Long-Horizon Engineering Agent for Multidisciplinary Design of Liquid-Rocket Thrust Chambers

2026-10-05

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenges of tool coordination and information consistency arising from downstream constraint backtracking in the multidisciplinary design of liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket thrust chambers. To this end, a long-range engineering agent framework is proposed. This framework employs a single coding agent to orchestrate performance, optimization, geometric, and multiphysics capabilities. It integrates a provenance-aware knowledge graph to assist method selection, constructs a typed intermediate representation to maintain shared parameters, and establishes revision-aware mechanisms for result invalidation and input blocking. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach successfully handles operating point corrections following infeasible cooling searches, thereby validating both its sustained coordination capability across disciplinary workflows and the effectiveness of the dependency invalidation mechanism.

Abstract

Liquid-rocket thrust-chamber design involves interdependent analyses in which downstream constraints can require earlier design decisions to be revisited. Managing these dependencies across heterogeneous tools requires consistent design information and coordinated updates throughout the workflow. We present RocketAgent, a long-horizon engineering agent for multidisciplinary preliminary design of liquid-rocket thrust chambers. A single plan-owning Coding Agent coordinates engineering skills for performance sizing, subsystem optimization, geometry generation, and multiphysics assessment. A provenance-aware knowledge graph supports method selection, while a typed Design Intermediate Representation maintains shared parameters, artifacts, and decisions. Revision-aware checks invalidate affected results and block superseded inputs, with consequential changes subject to engineering approval. In a representative simulation-based design, RocketAgent continued from an infeasible cooling search through an engineer-authorized operating-point revision, identified feasible subsystem designs, and coordinated subsequent geometry generation and multiphysics assessment to support final configuration selection. Separate module tests assessed surrogate predictions and nozzle adaptation. A two-configuration comparison across three controlled scenarios verified the expected dependency invalidations and superseded-input blocking before solver execution. The representative case demonstrates sustained coordination across a multidisciplinary design workflow, while the controlled tests establish the behavior of the revision mechanisms supporting that execution.

Problem

• liquid-rocket thrust chamber
• multidisciplinary design
• dependency management
• design consistency
• heterogeneous tools

Innovation

• Long-Horizon Engineering Agent
• Multidisciplinary Design
• Knowledge Graph
• Design Intermediate Representation
• Revision-Aware Mechanism