Nothing is left to chance in the preparation of Ariane 6. After the combined tests, the assembly of the first example and the final certification of the launch system will pave the way for the first flight. Illustration of Ariadne 6.
Photo credit: ESA/ill./DUCROS David
The European launch vehicle Ariane 6 has reached the home stretch for its first launch. The last preparatory and qualification work will take place in the course of 2023. To achieve this historic moment for Europe in space, three types of activities still need to be carried out. The first started a few months ago: they are combined tests consisting in assembling a complete launcher with models of powder-free boosters and testing their proper functioning with the launch assembly. The next phases of testing will be devoted to the final operations of a launch campaign: filling the tanks with cryogenic propellants, draining, brief firings of the first stage Vulcain engine, then firing for the duration of a rated flight.
“The main goal of the combined tests is to confirm the compliance of the launch vehicle with the launch pad. The long-duration shot will also make it possible to verify the behavior of the LLPM, the Ariane 6 main stage, thus completing the qualification of the launcher,” says Olivier Bugnet, Ariane 6 project manager at CNES.
Dress rehearsal and qualification
While the combined tests are taking place, the first flying launcher is preparing. The various sub-assemblies currently being manufactured in continental Europe will have to be transported to French Guiana by cargo ship Canopée and assembled at the BAL. They will then be transferred to the launch pad with the boosters for the first real Ariane 6. Before the first flight, a dress rehearsal takes place without fairing and payloads. During this chronology, the mobile bridge is removed and the various launch procedures performed up to H0. The data from this dress rehearsal is then evaluated while the launch vehicle remains on standby under the gantry. Steps before Ariane 6’s maiden flight.
Credit: CNES/IDIX
“In parallel with the combined tests and assembly of the launch vehicle, another series of activities is coming to an end: the qualification of the launch system (launch vehicle, launch pad and joint operation). It is essential to give permission to launch, explains Olivier Bugnet. It is now necessary to carry out a final verification, carried out by independent experts on the basis of qualification files supplemented by the use of the test results. This is a series of studies with examples of vibration, propellant behavior, software or electrical systems.”
Another element flows into the qualification: the fire tests of the upper level, carried out in Lampoldhausen, Germany. The operation of the Vinci engine and the APU auxiliary power unit has already been tested there separately. The next test, which is more representative of the flight, operates the two engines simultaneously. Finally, at the end of these different phases – combined testing, assembly of the first launcher and dress rehearsal, qualification of the launch system – Ariane 6 will be given the green light for its maiden flight at the end of 2023 at the earliest.
The launcher under the mobile gantry.
Credits: CNES For its maiden voyage, Ariane 6 will carry several payloads under its fairing, consisting of small satellites and scientific experiments, on behalf of European universities and research centers as well as NASA and. Once the satellites have been released, this flight will also include a demonstration component, specifies Olivier Bugnet: “This will make it possible in particular to verify the behavior of the fuels in real conditions. It will confirm the correct qualification of the launcher in certain phases, with a view to the missions more complex futures.