15 June 2018Yesterday’s complex hot fire test of an engine technology demonstrator, was the first in a series of planned tests guiding Europe’s next-generation upper-stage rocket engine design.By the end of the year, the Expander-cycle Technology Integrated Demonstrator, or ETID, based at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen, will be ignited 20 times with each firing lasting up to 120 seconds on a test stand that provides a near-vacuum environment similar to space.
Following four rounds of tests the configuration will be changed for further tests with different igniters and different hardware designs and materials. The aim is to bring them all to a technology readiness high enough to transfer them at minimum cost and risk to any subsequent development project for flight.The results will validate the engine concept and analysis tools used, as well as identifying opportunities for even lighter designs.ETID is a precursor of the next generation of 10-tonne rocket engines. Its results also have relevance for the in-development Vinci engine, which powers the upper stage of Ariane 6
Test stand ready for P120C static firing The propulsion test stand (BEAP) has been prepared for the P120C solid rocket development motor for a static firing test in July 2018.The P120C, designed as boosters on Ariane 6 and as the first stage for Vega-C, is the largest single-unit, carbon-fibre solid-propellant motor ever built.Its development relies on innovative technologies derived from the P80, Vega’s current first stage motor. Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
LYON, France—French space agency CNES has tapped Zodiac Data Systems for the development of an autonomous range safety system at Arianespace’s Kourou, French Guiana launch site, thus making the destruction of an off-course launcher an automated process.Thus far, the termination of a flight—thanks to onboard explosives—has been decided by the leader of a team of four on the ground. The new system, dubbed Kassav, will be on board the launcher. It will use an inertial measurement unit (IMU), combined with dual Galileo and GPS positioning.Such a hybrid arrangement provides enough precision and is cheaper than a dual IMU, Jean-Marie Astorg, CNES’ head of launchers, explains to Aerospace DAILY. Kassav will be independent from the rest of the rocket, having its own battery and radio connections.In its first phase, Kassav 1, the new system will be limited to launcher tracking. It is planned to be inaugurated in late 2019 on a heavy-lift Ariane 5. It also will be part of the Callisto reusable demonstrator in 2020.The full-capability Kassav 2 is scheduled to be used on an Ariane 5 or Ariane 6 in 2021, Astorg says. Kassav also will be integrated onto the Vega C light launcher.CNES is expecting greater safety and reduced costs. Eventually, the agency will dispose of the three radars currently used for launcher tracking. The current organization involves a long reconfiguration between two flights. Being autonomous, the new system is expected to help cut the interval to three days, from 11.As the operator of the Guiana Space Center, CNES is responsible “on behalf of the French government, for the safety of people and property on each launch from the base,” CNES’ website reads. The decision not to terminate Ariane 5 flight VA241 when it lifted off on a wrong trajectory in January sparked a debate in French Guiana and the European space industry. CNES has been working for an automated system for years, Astorg says.
Question: Would this new Kassav automated termination system have terminated the AV241 flight in January?