The Perspectives For The Ariane 5 Launcher Over The Next Decade And Associated Opportunities
- Paper number
IAC-07-D2.4.03
- Author
Mrs. Catherine Poincheval, EADS Astrium, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Richard Pitt, Astrium GmbH, Germany
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Ariane 5, in its 10t-class heavy lift version, has proved to be the Arianespace workhorse for the benefit of the commercial operators and Space Agencies interested in their institutional and scientific oriented missions. After a successful return to flight in 2005, Ariane 5 launch rate has found its standard pace, demonstrating that the industrialisation process is now fully operational; moreover, thanks to its dual launch capability, the Ariane 5 System launched yet again in 2006, more spacecraft than its competitors. In order to keep this competitive advantage, the Space agencies and the European Space Transportation Industry took the initiative to anticipate the market needs, and to prepare the needed related adaptations to be ready for a key decision around 2008. Current activities comprise the increase of the production cadence while stabilizing the present configuration for the next decade. In parallel, the European industry together with the Space Agencies are also studying the best options for responding to the short-term market needs, such as the deployment of the Galileo satellites and/or of upcoming constellations. In addition, Astrium Space Transportation together with its industrial partners, is looking towards mid-term evolutions of the Ariane 5 launcher, based in particular on a new re-ignitable upper composite, featuring the VINCI cryogenic expander cycle engine. Different options for this new upper composite have been studied: cryogenic re-ignitable upper stage with different architecture concepts (structural tank, under-fairing tanks with reduced diameter…), cryogenic non re-ignitable upper stage equipped with a kick-stage for versatile missions. Associated launch system enhancement takes into account potential upgrades of the solid propulsion boosters, operational simplifications as well as complementary optimisations of sub-systems. So this paper will provide a comprehensive overview of the possible evolutions of the Ariane 5 System over the next decade, the impact on the range of possible missions and the overall Architecture of the different options under investigation.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-D2.4.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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