ThrustMaster 9000 aerospike rocket engine

The ThrustMaster 9000 aerospike rocket engine was a model of falt-nosed, wedge-shaped podracer engine manufactured by Galactic Power Engineering. The company's GPE-3130 Podracer used twin aerospike engines for its primary thrust, with smaller ramjet engines on nacelle-mounted outriggers augmenting the larger engines and powering the vessel's altitude jets. The podracer was designed for little else beside speed, which its engines provided, but due to their power control curve the vehicle was incredibly hard to handle, especially in tight spaces or on sharp corners. The aerospike engines also required large amounts of maintenance, made the GPE-3130 look awkward, and used a volatile fuel that exploded at the slightest provocation.

In 32 BBY, the Gran podracer Mawhonic used a GPE-3130 with its engines painted green during the Boonta Eve Classic podrace on the desert planet Tatooine. During the race, the rival racer Sebulba forced Mawhonic's vehicle into a cliff face in Mushroom Mesa, causing the left-hand aerojet engine to explode. Loose from the vehicle's repulsorpod, the second engine then continue on alone before dropping to the desert floor and tearing apart as it tumbled through the sand.

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