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The paper describes latest results of the most recent activities in Germany in the technical assessment of future European launcher architecture. In a joint effort of DLR-SART with German launcher industry a next generation upper-medium class expendable TSTO and options for new liquid fuel upper stages for the small VEGA-launcher are addressed. The...
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... cryogenic upper stage including its functional architecture is similar to the “K3” version presented in the previous paragraph 2.4.1, but both tanks with 5.4 m diameter due to the larger amount of propellant (Figure 9). The resulting “F2” 2 nd stage concept general features in comparison of first and second loop are: Loop 1 Loop 2 Total Length 13 m 14 m Stage diameter 5.4 m 5.4 ...
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... For the upper stage, the high performances Vinci engine was chosen, though it is the most powerful upper stage engine available in Europe. An optimization of the thrust level was not done, even if it is expected that a thrust higher than 180 kN would be beneficial for the staging ( [11] and [10]). Indeed, it is known that an increase of the thrust level of the Vinci engine is not possible without a costly and thorough redesign of the engine. ...
... Mission general requirements for ANGELA[11] ...
Two launch vehicle concepts based on technologies available today or in a short term future in Western Europe are presented. The design of both launchers has the goal of exploiting synergies with current European programs to limit development and operational costs. Technologies of particular interest here are the high performance solid rocket motors with carbon-epoxy filament wound monolithic motor cases and the future high performance cryogenic expander cycle engine Vinci.
The first concept dubbed ANGELA (A New GEneration LAuncher) is a study financed with funds of the German Ministry of Economics and managed by the DLR Space Administration. The project, which started in the summer of 2012 aims at designing a low cost versatile launcher able to place payloads between 2 and 5 tons into GTO. Three architectures have been considered during the first phase of the study. This phase was concluded in March 2013 with the preliminary stagings, which will be the starting point of more detailed analyses. The first architecture is made out of an H110 (stage with 110 tons of LOx/LH2) equipped with two Vulcain 2 engines with shortened nozzles and an H29 propelled by a Vinci engine. In addition the variation of the number of P36 solid rocket boosters allow to reach the entire range of payload performance. The second architecture differs from the first one only by the use of a new staged-combustion engine instead of two Vulcain 2 engines. The new engine, which should deliver 1800 kN in vacuum, allows a reduction of the size of the stages to H90-H24, enhanced with P34 boosters. The third and last architecture is a so called Multi PPH. The first stage is a bundle of 2 or 3 P120 solid rocket motors. The second stage is made out of one single P120, strictly similar to those used for the first stage. Finally the upper stage is an H23 equipped with a Vinci engine, the same as the two other architectures.
The second launcher concept described in this paper is the small TSTO launch vehicle. It consists of a large solid rocket motor first stage P175 and a cryogenic upper stage propelled by the Vinci engine, H26. The preliminary design performed at DLR-SART considers two target performances. The light version of the small TSTO shall perform Galileo satellite replacement single launch missions to MTO corresponding to a payload performance of about 1400 kg in GTO. A heavy version of the launch vehicle shall be able to launch payloads up to 3000 kg in GTO. The performance increase for the heavy version is made possible by the addition of two pairs of P23 boosters, the second pair being ignited with a delay.
... But no thrust level optimisation has been done for the upper stage. In fact, according to previous studies [6] and [7], a thrust higher than 180 kN would be beneficial for the staging. The Vinci engine is nowadays the most powerful upper stage engine available in Europe. ...
Several combinations of solid rocket motors and ignition strategies have been considered for a small Two Stage to Orbit (TSTO) launch vehicle based on a big solid rocket motor first stage and cryogenic upper stage propelled by the Vinci engine. In order to reach the target payload performance of about 1400 kg into GTO for the clean version and 2700 to 3000 kg for the boosted version, the influence of the selected solid rocket motors on the upper stage structure has been studied. Preliminary structural designs have been performed and the thrust histories of the solid rocket motor have been tweaked to limit the upper stage structural mass. First stage and booster combinations with acceptable general loads are proposed.
... It is characterized by increased fuel mass of almost 40 tons and a longer combustion time in comparison to Z23. The storable propellant upper stage with the proposed turbopump fed MMH-N2O4 engine AESTUS 2 (Table 1) has been slightly redefined in VENUS II compared to similar launcher arrangements studied in the first loop of VENUS (see [2,3]!). Various fuel tank layouts all with optimal 5400 kg propellant loading have been explored in preliminary sizing. ...
... Six different liquid engine options with three different propellant combinations have been analyzed by SART. One major result published in [1,2,3] is the strong interest in a combination of a solid first stage and a cryogenic upper stage. This small TSTO has the additional advantage of being very compact and having the shortest length of all investigated versions presented in [1,4]. ...
The paper summarizes recent system study results on future European expendable launcher options investigated by DLR-SART.
In the first part two variants of storable propellant upper segments are presented which could be used as a future evolvement of the small Vega launcher. The lower composite consisting of upgraded P100 and Z40 motors is assumed to be derived from Vega.
An advanced small TSTO rocket with a payload capability in the range of 1500 kg in higher energy orbits and up to 3000 kg supported by additional strap-on boosters is further under study. The first stage consists of a high pressure solid motor with a fiber casing while the upper stage is using cryogenic propellants. Synergies with other ongoing European development programs are to be exploited.
The so called NGL should serve a broad payload class range from 3 to 8 tons in GTO reference orbit by a flexible arrangement of stages and strap-on boosters. The recent SART work focused on two and three-stage vehicles with cryogenic and solid propellants.
The paper presents the promises and constraints of all investigated future launcher configurations.
... For the upper stage, the high performances Vinci engine is chosen, as it is the most powerful upper stage engine available in Europe. An optimization of the thrust level was not done, even if it is expected that a thrust higher than 180 kN would be beneficial for the staging [3] and [4]. Indeed, it is known that an increase of the thrust level of the Vinci engine is not possible without a costly and thorough redesign of the engine; in addition the expander cycle implies also a limit in terms of maximum thrust. ...
Different variants of a Two Stage to Orbit (TSTO) launch vehicle, based on technologies available in Europe, combining a solid rocket motor and a cryogenic upper stage propelled by the Vinci engine and aiming at exploiting synergies with other on-going European programs are presented in this paper. After a first sizing based on data from existing upper stages, preliminary structural analyses and tank designs have been performed, considering different first stages, such as P120, P150 and P160. A preliminary optimisation of the first stage thrust law and of the propellant mass of the upper stage has been done.
