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Credit: ESA / CNES – Sentinel.
The mobile gantry frame is completed, and walls are in the process of being supplied onto the frame. The water tower is completed; the finished structure is capable of storing 2,600 cubic metres of water. During a launch, 740 cubic metres — that is, 740 thousand litres — are dumped in less than 40 seconds to feed the three deluge systems of the launch zone: one on the launch table, one in the pit launcher, and one in the jet deflector. The maximum flow of 50 cubic metres per second is reached at the time of take-off and maintained for 6 seconds.
It's that time again – time for this month's new drone footage of the #Ariane6 future launch site!
See below April's video of the construction site at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana ?? Credit: @esa / @CNES / @Sentinel_Drone pic.twitter.com/oeQFUyLo46
— Ariane 6 (@Ariane6) April 25, 2019
For more updates on Ariane 6, follow Ariane 6 and ESA Space Transportation on Twitter, or follow Ariane 6 on Instagram.
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Credit: ESA/CNES/Sentinel
]]>The Ariane 6 facility will be used to test the launch vehicle’s upper stage, which uses the new reignitable Vinci engine. The facility will be vital for pre-launch tests because the site will be able simulate the complete launch sequence of Ariane 6, all the way from ground to orbit.
“An essential part of proving that a launch system is ready, is to test the complete rocket stages in conditions that are as close as possible to those experienced in flight,” says Pier Domenico Resta, ESA’s Ariane 6 Launch System Architect Manager. “This new test facility will enable us to simulate the launch, from ground activities such as fuelling and draining of tanks, through all flight phases.”
For more information, read the official ESA article on the facility’s inauguration here.
]]>New #drone footage has just been released, showing the construction of @Ariane6's future launch site as of February 2019 ?️ Ariane 6's maiden launch is scheduled for 2020, taking off from its specially-made launch complex as seen below at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana pic.twitter.com/2EPdoO7znU
— ESA Space Transportation (@esa_sts) February 26, 2019
In the video, all the key components of the launch site are featured. The mobile gantry, whose frame is now complete, will be the final home to the Ariane 6 launch vehicle that will be prepared vertically inside the gantry. Shortly before lift-off, the entire gantry moves backwards on rails to expose the vehicle before it takes off. This gives the technicians as much time as possible with the vehicle, only stepping back right before launch. The assembly building is where Ariane 6 is integrated horizontally before moving to the mobile gantry, allowing the technicians to work in a shop-floor type of environment.
For more details about what the different features seen in the video are, read about Ariane 6 on the ESA portal.
]]>After it was fully loaded with 142 tonnes of fuel, the 13.5 m long and 3.4 m diameter motor was ignited to simulate liftoff and the first phase of the flight. The motor burned for 135 seconds and delivered a maximum thrust of about 4650 kN (that is, forty-four times the thrust of an F22 fighter jet engine!) and the test outperformed the first P120C test in July 2018, which reached 4200 kN. The test was conducted at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, and was completed with no anomalies.
After the second P120C test, a full analysis of the test results will confirm readiness of this motor for Vega-C’s debut launch.
Drone footage of the firing test is available here. For more information, see the official ESA article on the firing test here.
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Credit: 2019 – ESA/CNES – Sentinel: G. Berthier
The frame of the mobile gantry that will cover Ariane 6 pre-launch was completed on November 30th. Even though it is 90 metres tall and weighs more than the Eiffel Tower, the entire structure is able to move on rails to uncover Ariane 6 as shortly as possible before takeoff.
The frame of the mobile gantry is here pictured with the flame trenches. The tiny little orange blurs are actually people!
From behind the mobile gantry, facing the launch assembly building, you can also see the launch complexes of Ariane 5 and Vega in the distance.
The Ariane 6 launcher assembly building faces the launch pad and mobile gantry seen in the background. Before launch, Ariane 6 will be transported to the mobile gantry along the stretch of road pictured.
Next to the mobile gantry and the flame trenches, a water tower is being constructed. This will provide huge deluges of water during launch to keep things cool.
For more pictures, updates, and more about the development of Ariane 6 and its launch site, you can follow the official ESA Space Transportation and Ariane 6 Twitter accounts, as well as the Ariane 6 Instagram account.
]]>The 8th and last roof truss to compose the frame of the roof was mounted last Friday, November 30th. The gantry will be equipped with mobile platforms, giving access to the different levels of the launch vehicle, as well as a 45-tonne overhead crane. Once equipped, the building will have a mass of 7,000 tonnes — in comparison, that’s the approximate weight of the Eiffel Tower, and it will move on wheels.
Finally complete! Now just to add some walls…
This building was designed to carry out the final assembly operations of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, including:
– the erection of the core stage using the crane,
– the installation of the P120C solid rocket boosters,
– the integration of the upper stage with the crane.
Right from the start, the future Ariane 6 launch system has been firmly focused on increased competitiveness. To make difficult technical trade-offs, feedback from the operations of the Soyuz and Vega launch pads was taken onboard, in particular when it came to the implementation of technical solutions guaranteeing lowest recurring operating costs.
It’s wonderful to see so much hard work come together. Seeing how hard everyone has worked over the last 13 month will make it all that more exciting to watch the Ariane 6 maiden flight in 2020.
Charlotte Beskow
Head of the ESA Space Transportation Office in Kourou
]]>This step was an important milestone in the development of the future Ariane 6 and Vega-C launchers. The aim of this test was to verify that this first ever built P120C was functioning as planned. Even if the test was nominal, the final results will take some time to be known. The test fire lasted for 135 seconds, burning the 141 tons of solid fuel in that time, allowing the motor to produce a thrust at take-off of 4200 kN – that’s about the same thrust as five Boeing 747s taking off together!
This new rocket solid motor will be the biggest monolithic carbon fibre motor in the world, being 13.5m tall and 3.4m in diameter, allowing for a robust yet light-weight frame. The C in the name ‘P120C’ stands for Common, as this motor will be used as the first stage of the Vega-C launcher, but also as a booster for Ariane 6. The latter having two configurations — Ariane 62 and Ariane 64 — with either 2 or 4 boosters mounted on its sides.
The P120C motor is co-developed by ArianeGroup and Avio through their half-half joint venture Europropulsion, which will produce up to 35 of these motors per year in order to meet the demand for both Ariane 6 and Vega-C.
The first flight of Vega-C is planned for next year, while Ariane 6 will lift off for the first time in mid-2020.
Maxime Lenormand
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Imagine the meteoric force of exhaust gases expelled by four Ariane 6 strap-on boosters and a Vulcain motor ignited at lift-off.
A 600-tonne steel deflector, with tiles weighing a tonne each, will take the full blast and funnel these plumes into exhaust tunnels.
The triangle-shaped deflector will be installed 25 m below the launch table. It is 8.5 m high, 19.7 m long, 16 m wide, and protects the concrete structure of the exhaust tunnel as well as equipment stored nearby.
The deflector is currently at MCE Slany in the Czech Republic for tests that include removing a steel tile and testing the deflector’s water cooling system.
After tests, it will be dismantled, painted, then packed into 50 containers and shipped to French Guiana over June and August, ready for installation at the end of September.
Ariane 6’s maiden flight is set for mid-2020. This new launch vehicle will be gradually phased in to succeed Ariane 5.
]]>Building the Ariane 6 launch table
Only a giant 700 tonne steel table — 4 m high, 20 m long, and 18 m wide — could support Ariane 6 in the centre of the launch pad and withstand the baptism of fire, noise, and vibrations at lift-off.
It is so large that it had to be dismantled before it was shipped from Germany to Kourou, French Guiana.
Part of Ariane 6’s launch table
Engineers are now welding together the main structures, and in May, they will install fluid and cryogenic systems, power supply, air-conditioning, and security systems.
In August, the launch table will be moved to the launch pad, ready for a final check.
Read more from our official news article found here.
]]>Inert propellant pours into P120C
The P120C is the largest solid-propellant rocket motor ever built in one segment! The 11.5 m long, 3.4 m diameter, full-scale model has been filled with 142 tonnes of inert green propellant.
Intended for Ariane 6 and Vega-C, the P120C at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, will be moved to the static firing test stand in two weeks.
Static firing test stand
Here, engineers can safely test new procedures and connections in preparation for a firing of the P120C development model later this year.
P120C full-scale model is set to horizontal
Two or four will be strapped to Ariane 6 as boosters for liftoff. Two boosters will be used on its maiden flight in 2020.
More information is available here.
]]>The Vulcain 2.1, developed by ArianeGroup and now at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany, is settling in for the first of three test campaigns this year.
It boasts a stronger, simpler nozzle, a 3D-printed gas generator, and a new oxygen heater that pressurises the oxygen tank – features that have lowered the cost of the engine and simplified manufacturing.
Test results will help engineers to decide whether adjustments are needed to optimise the functional, thermal, and mechanical behaviour before the start of combined tests.
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