A study of thrust vectoring techniques of annular aerospike nozzles was conducted. Cold-flow blow-down testing along with solid modeling and rapid prototyping technology were used to investigate the effects of slot size, placement, geometry and orientation. The use of slot-type compound nozzles proved to be a feasible approach to thrust vectoring. Previous methods of thrust vectoring have proved to be difficult to implement in a cost effective manner or have had limited effectiveness or durability.

Compound aerospike nozzles were designed and tested as part of an ongoing experimental study to determine the feasibility of thrust vectoring an aerospike nozzle with the addition of a secondary port. Earlier phases of the study have indicated that a compound aerospike nozzle could provide sufficient thrust vectoring. The addition of a hole-type secondary port was found to provide effective thrust vectoring. Experiments were carried out to determine the effects of secondary port size, secondary port inlet geometry and compound aerospike nozzle chamber pressure. Results show good predictability, axisymmetric flow, and emphasize the importance of a radius on secondary port inlet geometry.