Ariane 6 and space tugs: an enabler for European exploration missions
- Paper number
IAC-17,D2,8-A5.4,2,x38006
- Author
Mr. Frederic Masson, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. PATUREAU ANTOINE, CNES, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Richard Epenoy, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Jérôme Vila, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. JEAN-MARC BAHU, CNES, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Christophe Bonnal, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Lionel Baize, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Vincent Leudiere, CNES, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Aurelien Pisseloup, Airbus Group, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Eugenio FERREIRA, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Christophe Barbero, EADS Astrium, France
- Coauthor
Ms. Fanny Ducerf, France
- Year
2017
- Abstract
\begin{document} \begin{center} \textit{F. Masson, F. Spiero, C. Bonnal, C. Talbot, A. Patureau de Mirand, R. Epenoy, L. Baize} Centre National d’\'Etudes Spatiales, CNES, France. \vspace{0.3cm} \textit{A. Pisseloup, A. Ferreira} Airbus Defense and Space, France \vspace{0.3cm} \textit{F. Ducerf, N. Bozhkov} Airbus Safran Launchers, France \end{center} \vspace{0.5cm} Ariane 6, as a performant and affordable launcher, is an enabling capacity for future European exploration missions. It is especially interesting to associate Ariane 6 with a “space tug”, that’s to say an orbital spacecraft using high power electric propulsion, sometimes in addition with chemical propulsion. Such association would permit to transport higher payloads, enabling more ambitious exploration and scientific missions. This paper will focus on missions to the Moon and Mars, as they remain priority targets for CNES, ESA and the ISEC-G roadmap. We will show what performances can be achieved with Ariane 6, with or without space tugs. For instance, for a mission to Mars, A6 alone could bring 2 tons, and 4 tons if associated with a 100 kWe-class solar-electric tug. For a longer term, we consider A6 associated with a 1 MWe nuclear-electric propulsion, that could bring up to 10 tons in orbit of Saturn. Preliminary designs for space tugs using chemical propulsion, solar-electric propulsion or nuclear-electric propulsion will be proposed. \paragraph{Keywords:} Ariane 6, Space tug, Exploration, Electric propulsion. \end{document}
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
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