For the combined test hot-fire test on November 23, the rocket remained strongly on the ground, but its upgraded engine burnt through 150,000 kg of supercooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel for the duration of a real flight. Not only was the core stage being evaluated, however all aspects of the launch pad and operations, too, from the delicate procedure of sustaining both the orbital stage and the primary engine stacked above it to testing the thermal results of a launch on electrical and mechanical components. Credit: ESA
Longest Full-Stack Run
The trial, performed with a test design on the launch pad at Europes Spaceport in French Guiana, was the longest full-stack run yet for Ariane 6s lower liquid propulsion module with a Vulcain 2.1 engine.
” The groups from ArianeGroup, CNES, and ESA have now gone through every action of the rockets flight without it leaving Earth,” says ESAs Director General Josef Aschbacher.
” This turning point wedding rehearsal follows years of designing, preparation, preparing, building, and effort from a few of the finest area engineers in Europe. We are back on track towards resecuring Europes autonomous access to area. Well done to all involved!”
Vulcain 2.1 firing. Credit: ESA/ArianeGroup/CNES– Optique vidéo du CSG
Vulcain 2.1 Engine
The Vulcain 2.1 engine burnt through practically 150 tonnes of propellant in the Ariane 6 core phase tanks– liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the latter supercooled to temperatures listed below -250 ° C. Vulcain 2.1 is an evolution of the Vulcain 2 engine that made Ariane 5 Europes most effective launch system to date. The upgrade has actually a simplified and less expensive design, and brand-new innovation in the engine nozzle and ignition system has been moved from the engine to the launch pad structure, to make the stage carry out much better and cost less.
Ariane 6 plumes during integrated hot fire test. Credit: ESA– CNES– Arianespace– ArianeGroup/ Optique Vidéo du CSG– P. PIRON
Release Pad Operations
It took just over 2 hours and required teams of individuals and fragile operations to load the rockets main core with fuel. The filling operations were performed throughout a long countdown that included other qualification tests, comparable to the previous rehearsals this year. For fidelity and to guarantee launcher stability, the upper stage tanks were likewise fueled– even though the upper stage engine only starts when in orbit after separation from the main phase and so was not fired throughout this ground test.
The launch pad– run by Frances space company CNES– used its water deluge system to temper the heat from the engine.
ESAs Director of Space Transportation, Toni Tolker-Nielsen, added his vote of confidence in the teams across Europe working to bring Ariane 6 to service: “A huge thanks to all of our devoted coworkers who are committed and working relentlessly to see this rocket fly.”
The test followed a shorter burn in September (understood as CTLO1) when Ariane 6s tanks were filled and its Vulcain 2.1 engine briefly sparked and switched off, and the filling and draining test performed in October (called CTLO2.1) to examine the launch system functions such as draining pipes fuel in the presence of numerous simulated failures.
A last hot-fire test of the upper phase is being prepared and prepared for December 2023 at the German Aerospace Center, DLR, Lampoldshausen test.
On the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, this Ariane 6 test design was put through a combined test hot-fire (CTHF) before launch– over seven-minutes hot firing of its Vulcain 2.1 main stage. This engine, on a genuine flight, would deal with the boosters to propel the 62-m-tall rocket off Earth and into space. Credit: ESA– CNES– Arianespace– ArianeGroup/ Optique Vidéo du CSG– P. PIRON
ESAs brand-new Ariane 6 rocket passed a major full-scale wedding rehearsal on November 23 in preparation for its very first flight, when groups on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stages engine, as it would fire on a launch into area.
For this practice session, the boosters were not ignited so Ariane 6 remained securely on the launch pad at Europes Spaceport in French Guiana, as prepared.
The engine-fire trial reenacts how the Ariane 6 core phase will fire during a normal flight into space. As soon as finish the primary engine would close down and the core phase would separate from the upper phase, which would then take over propulsion and complete its objective.
On the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, this Ariane 6 test model was put through a combined test hot-fire (CTHF) before launch– over seven-minutes hot firing of its Vulcain 2.1 main phase. For the combined test hot-fire test on November 23, the rocket remained strongly on the ground, however its updated engine burnt through 150,000 kg of supercooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel for the period of a genuine flight. Not just was the core phase being tested, but all aspects of the launch pad and operations, too, from the delicate procedure of fuelling both the orbital phase and the primary engine stacked above it to testing the thermal effects of a launch on mechanical and electrical components. The filling operations were carried out throughout a long countdown that included other certification tests, similar to the previous wedding rehearsals this year. For fidelity and to guarantee launcher stability, the upper phase tanks were likewise fueled– even though the upper phase engine just kicks in when in orbit after separation from the main phase and so was not fired throughout this ground test.