Recommendations of the Study on a New European Launch Service (NELS)

Paper number

IAC-14,D2,4,3,x26491

Author

Mr. Marc Scheper, OHB System AG, Germany

Coauthor

Ms. Kate Underhill, MT Aerospace AG, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Piotr Perczynski, MT Aerospace AG, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Sascha Larch, MT Aerospace AG, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Sébastien Cailliau, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Belgium

Coauthor

Dr. Rolf Janovsky, OHB System AG, Germany

Year

2014

Abstract

This paper presents the main recommendations of the NELS study, contracted by ESA in 2012–13 to a team formed by the OHB Group and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, supported by other industrial partners. The objective of the study was to investigate the feasibility of a new European launch service which would be economically self-sustainable in stabilised exploitation.
The study covered all aspects driving the definition of a new European launch system, such as launch demand, technical concepts of the launch vehicle and launch complex, detailled modelling of development and production risks and costs, elaboration of a governance model, public-private partnership models and the industrial organisation. All elements were integrated into a business model simulating the net result of a European launch service provider over a production life-cycle of 20 years.
The results of the NELS study show that, given a realistic market model, a self-sustainable business case for a private launch service provider can be established under favourable conditions. Key enablers of a cost-efficient, self-sustainable launch service are: a technical concept optimised for production and operations, an overall governance providing clear allocation of risks to public and private entities, and a streamlined industrial organisation providing incentives for continuous process optimisation. The three major recommendations resulting from the study are: (1) To clearly allocate the design authority role, (2) To set up as prime contractor an industrial consortium of core industrialists and (3) To have a supply chain with a reduced number of suppliers (-30\% to -50\%) compared to todays Ariane 5 scenario.

Abstract document

IAC-14,D2,4,3,x26491.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-14,D2,4,3,x26491.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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