Ariane 6

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Planned Ariane 6 in the configurations Ariane 62 with two and Ariane 64 with four solid fuel boosters

The Ariane 6 is a European launcher from the Ariane series and is designed for a payload of 5 t to 11.5 t in the GTO . The final decision on its construction was made by the ESA Ministerial Council on December 2, 2014 , and the development contract was awarded to the Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) joint venture - ArianeGroup since July 1, 2017 - on August 12, 2015 . After the meeting of the ESA Council on April 17, 2019, Arianespace commissioned the production of the first 14 Ariane 6s. The first flight was planned for the end of 2020 before the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic and will be postponed to the second half of 2021.

Concepts and Development

Development goals

The participating European partners from the European Union, ESA and business are essentially pursuing two goals for the development of Ariane 6:

  1. Maintaining independent access to space for a wide variety of unmanned missions based on European technology.
  2. The improvement of the competitive situation in the face of a growing market for commercial providers for satellite launches.

Factor 2 was named as the target for cost savings (halving the start-up costs per mission). This is to be achieved through various measures in the area of ​​organizational forms, production optimization and modern industrial processes such as 3D printing. The manufacturer ArianeGroup writes: “The production organization has been completely revised and optimized. Based on the experience with the Ariane 5 and the long-term customer feedback, the ArianeGroup relies on a logic of 'development for operation'. [...] through to the development of common elements with the Vega-C launcher "

Development history

Unlike Ariane 1 to 5 , Ariane 6 was originally no longer designed for double launches of two satellites at once in the GTO. The plans for Ariane 6 included the use of solid fuel, except for the upper stage, which is powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen. This should come from the Ariane 5 ME. Therefore, on January 30, 2013, EADS Astrium received the order from ESA to specify the exact design (step size and number of boosters and their sizes) for the Ariane 6 with a payload capacity of 3 to 6.5 t.

During 2014 the concept of the missile changed again. The three-stage Ariane 6 should now be equipped with two or four solid fuel boosters. The first stage should burn solid fuel and the top two H 2 and O 2 .

A revised concept was presented in September 2014. The now two-stage rocket uses a Vulcain-2 engine in the first stage and a Vinci engine in the second , both of which burn cryogenic water and oxygen with a high specific impulse . There is a version with two and one with four solid fuel boosters. The payload is 5 t or 11.5 t. Unlike originally planned, the more powerful version also enables double launches with two satellites weighing around 4.5 t. The start-up costs per kilogram of payload should be around half as high as for the Ariane 5. On December 1 or 2, 2014, the ministers of the member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) pledged around four billion euros for the development of the Ariane 6.

In contrast to the Ariane 5, which is still installed vertically, the individual elements of the Ariane 6 in Kourou are to be assembled horizontally in order to reduce costs.

In March 2018, Arianespace published a new user manual with changed performance data: The rocket is now expressly designed for all conceivable target orbit such as LEO , SSO , MEO , GTO , GEO , HEO and escape paths, the payload of the 64 version at GEO target orbit is now 5 , 0 t, in the GTO 11.5 t and to the moon ( LTO ) 8.2 t to 8.5 t (despite Deorbit of the upper level).

The qualification tests for the Vinci engine were completed in October 2018 and those for the Vulcain in July 2019.

Attendees

Companies from 13 ESA member states are involved in the development and production of Ariane 6. By April 2019, ESA gave the following list of countries (in alphabetical order); this information was removed from the ESA website in May 2019:

BelgiumBelgium Belgium ,  Germany ,  France ,  Ireland ,  Italy , the  Netherlands ,  Norway ,  Austria ,  Romania ,  Sweden ,  Switzerland ,  Spain   and the   Czech Republic . GermanyGermany FranceFrance IrelandIreland ItalyItaly NetherlandsNetherlands NorwayNorway AustriaAustria RomaniaRomania SwedenSweden SwitzerlandSwitzerland SpainSpain Czech RepublicCzech Republic 

technology

construction

The Ariane 6 is between 52 m and 61 m high , depending on the length of the payload fairing . The two hydrogen / oxygen stages and the payload fairing have a diameter of 5.4 m. The first stage is to be filled with 140 t of fuel (H 2 / O 2 ) and the second with 31 t. Both stages each have two separate tanks for hydrogen and oxygen. The stage adapter between the 1st and 2nd stage is long, so that the Vinci engine , unlike the Ariane 5ME, does not require an extendable nozzle, but fits into it in full length. The Ariane 6 is so heavy at take-off that the Vulcain 2.1 engine's thrust is insufficient to make it take off. You need at least two solid fuel boosters. The two or four P120 solid fuel boosters each contain around 142 t of solid fuel and each have a diameter of 3.4 m and a height of 13.5 m with cladding.

Component data

Ariane 6 data
Missile type Ariane 62 Ariane 64
status under construction
Maximum payload: 5.0 t ( GTO )
10.35 t ( LEO ) 		approx. 11.5 t (GTO)
21.65 t (LEO)
component Solid booster
Stage name Equipped Solid Rocket (ESR)
Engine P120
Length (m) 16
Diameter (m) 3
Mass ( t ) Empty weight: 2 × 11
Fuel: 2 × 142 		Empty weight: 4 × 11
Fuel: 4 × 142
Thrust Ø (max.) ( KN ) 2 × 3500 = 7000 4 × 3500 = 14000
Burning time ( s ) 135 (= 2min 15s)
fuel NH 4 ClO 4 / Al , HTPB (solid)
component Main level
Stage name Lower Liquid Propulsion Module (LLPM)
Engine Vulcain 2.1
Length (m) 29
Diameter (m) 5.4
Mass (t) (Fuel: 140)
Thrust on the ground (kN) ≥ 960
Thrust vacuum (kN) ≥ 1350
Burning time (s) 460 (= 7min 30s)
fuel LOX / LH 2
component Upper school
Stage name Upper Liquid Propulsion Module (ULPM)
Engine Vinci
Length (m) 11.5
Diameter (m) 5.4
Mass (t) (Fuel 31)
Thrust max. (kN) 180
Burning time (s) 900 (= 15min; re-ignitable)
fuel LOX / LH 2

Planned launches

The list was last updated on April 11, 2020

The dates are plans or expectations for the earliest possible start date. Rocket launches are often postponed to a later date.

Date and
Time UTC 		Type Start no. Customer
payload 		Type of payload Payload in kg 1 Orbit 2
2021 Ariane 62 EuropeEurope Galileo 29, 30 two navigation satellites 2 × 750 MEO
2021 Ariane 62 FranceFrance CSO 3 Spy satellite 3655 SSO
2021 Ariane 64 FranceFrance Eutelsat Hotbird 13F, 13G Communication satellites 2 × 4500 GTO
2021-2022 Ariane 64 United StatesUnited States Viasat-3 Communications satellite approx. 6400 GTO
1st half of 2022 Ariane 64 (not yet booked) Rideshare flight GO-1 ≤ 4500 GEO
2022Template: future / in 2 years Ariane 62 EuropeEurope Galileo 31, 32 two navigation satellites 2 × 750 MEO
no earlier than 2022 Ariane 62 EuropeEurope Galileo 33, 34 two navigation satellites 2 × 750 MEO
2022 Template: future / in 2 years(possibly) Ariane 64 European space agencyESA JUICE Jupiter probe approx. 5000 Escape route
no earlier than 2023Template: future / in 3 years Ariane 64 (not yet booked) Rideshare flight to the moon Escape route
202x Ariane 62 EuropeEurope Galileo 35, 36 two navigation satellites 2 × 750 MEO
202x Ariane 62 EuropeEurope Galileo 37, 38 two navigation satellites 2 × 750 MEO
until 2027 (several starts) Template: future / in 5 years
 Ariane 6 3 FranceFrance Eutelsat three communication satellites GTO
2028Template: future / in 5 years Ariane 62 European space agencyESA ARIEL Comet Interceptor
European space agencyESA 		Space telescope
comet probe 		<1000
<1000 		Transfer path
to the L 2 point
1Take-off mass of the payload including the fuel carried ( wet mass ), but without the payload adapter.
2Track on which the upper stage payload is to be released; not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.
3Customers can choose between Ariane 62 and 64. Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël assumes that Eutelsat will choose the Ariane 64.

See also

For the considerations in the Airbus Group on the recyclability of rocket parts to reduce costs, see Adeline (rocket) .

literature

  • Ariane 6. In: Bernd Leitenberger: International launchers: The launchers of Russia, Asia and Europe , Space Edition, 2016, ISBN 978-3-7386-5252-9 , pp. 360–366
  • Bernd Leitenberger: European carrier wings 2: Ariane 5, 6 and Vega , Space Edition, 2nd edition 2015, ISBN 978-3-7386-4296-4

Web links

Commons : Ariane 6  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ariane 6. ESA, April 30, 2019, accessed on May 8, 2019 (English).
  2. ^ Ministerial Council Meetings. ESA, December 12, 2014, accessed February 25, 2015 .
  3. ↑ ESA awards development contract for Ariane 6. Frankfurter Rundschau, August 15, 2015, accessed on May 7, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Press Release: Ariane 6 series production begins with the first batch of 14 launchers. Arianespace, May 6, 2019, accessed May 7, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Mihir Neal: ESA delays Ariane 6 launch to the second half of 2021. nasaspaceflight.com, July 10, 2020, accessed on July 16, 2020 (English).
  6. ^ Ariane 6. (Video) In: YouTube. ESA, July 20, 2017, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  7. ↑ The Ariane 6 - The successor. Ariane Group, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Paris asks Germany to decide on the Ariane 6 missile. FOCUS Online, December 23, 2009, accessed on July 27, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Christoph Seidler: ESA summit: breakthrough at the space conference. Spiegel Online, November 21, 2012, accessed November 21, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Airbus Defense and Space wins ESA contracts to design Ariane 6 and continue development of Ariane 5 ME. Airbus Defense and Space, January 30, 2013, accessed July 27, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Tobias Willerding: SpaceX starts - Europe is fighting. raumfahrer.net, September 7, 2014, accessed on September 9, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Peter B. de Selding: ESA Ministerial in Doubt as France, Germany Remain Far Apart on Future Launcher. spacenews.com, September 8, 2014, accessed September 9, 2014 .
  13. ↑ Cyrille Vanlerberghe: Ariane 6: la version de la dernière chance. le Figaro, September 5, 2014, accessed September 20, 2014 (French).
  14. ↑ ESA to develop new Ariane rocket. ORF.at, December 2, 2014, accessed on December 3, 2014 .
  15. ↑ Roland Lagier: Ariane 6, User's manual - Issue 1 Revision 0 March 2018. (pdf) Arianespace, March 22, 2018, accessed on May 5, 2018 (English).
  16. ↑ Susanne Auer: Directly from the source - The new version of the # Ariane6 User's Manual is out - including updated figures. Twitter, April 23, 2018, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Ariane 6 Vulcain engine: successful qualification testing. Arianespace, July 18, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Ariane 6. ESA, February 20, 2019, archived from the original on April 28, 2019 ; Retrieved May 8, 2019 (this information was removed from the ESA website in May 2019).
  19. ^ A b Ed Kyle: Ariane 6. Planning for Europe's Next Generation Launcher. Space Launch Report, July 28, 2018, accessed May 8, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Ariane 6. (PDF) Académie de l'air et de l'espace, May 31, 2017, accessed on March 6, 2019 (English).
  21. ↑ a b c d e Gunter Krebs: Ariane-6. Gunter's Space Page, December 11, 2017, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  22. ↑ First launch order for the Ariane 6th flight review, September 14, 2017, accessed on March 6, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Gunter Krebs: CSO 1, 2, 3. Gunter's Space Page, February 23, 2019, accessed on March 6, 2019 (English).
  24. ↑ Gunter Krebs: Hotbird 13F, 13G. Gunter's Space Page, January 9, 2019, accessed May 7, 2019 .
  25. ^ Caleb Henry: Viasat orders Asia Pacific ViaSat-3 from Boeing amid record revenue. In: Spacenews. February 6, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
  26. ^ Viasat, Arianespace Modify Initial ViaSat-3 Satellite Launch Contract; Viasat to Become First Commercial Customer to Launch Aboard the Ariane 64. Arianespace, June 17, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Arianespace's “GO-1” mission will provide small satellites with a direct flight to geostationary orbit. Arianespace, August 6, 2019, accessed August 6, 2019 .
  28. ↑ a b c d Caleb Henry: EU reserves four Ariane 6 rockets for Galileo navigation satellites. In: Spacenews. January 23, 2020, accessed January 26, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Caleb Henry: ArianeGroup starting Ariane 6 production after new ESA agreement. Spacenews, April 18, 2019, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  30. ↑ Caleb Hebry: Arianespace targets 2023 for lunar Ariane 6 rideshare mission. In: Spacenews. October 22, 2019, accessed October 23, 2019 .
  31. ↑ a b Eutelsat becomes first Ariane 6 commercial customer with five-satellite launch contract. Spacenews, September 10, 2018, accessed on March 6, 2019 .
  32. ↑ ARIEL on the ESA website, accessed June 19, 2019.
  33. ^ ESA's new mission to intercept a comet. ESA, June 19, 2019, accessed June 19, 2019 .