“Go fast”. Far from the development period of Ariane 6, Maiaspace, a subsidiary of Arianegroup, is developing its reusable mini-space launch vehicle in France, which it plans to launch at the end of 2025 to gain a foothold in a booming market.
In the forest of Vernon in Normandy, a 14 meter high metal cylinder indicates the upper stage of the future rocket. It took nine months from the design of the “Quasi-modo” prototype to its completion.
The two stacked tanks contained in the bottle have been used since July for liquid nitrogen filling tests at -196 degrees, before moving on to tests with liquid oxygen and cryogenic biomethane to power the cylinder.
Given the layer of frost that forms on the walls and acts as an insulator, “we realized that we could do without thermal protection” on the rocket, which meant a huge saving of time and money in manufacturing in the future, reveals Jérôme Vila , the head of the program, according to which “this is exactly what we want to learn in a test zone”.
From “Quasi-modo” to “Almost perfect”
In a few months, “Quasi-modo” will be replaced by “Quasi-perfect,” the second prototype of the stage, this time equipped with its Prometheus engine for firing tests. A third version will then be used to integrate into the main stage for the final ground tests before opening fire.
Overall, Maiaspace plans to launch less than four years after the start of the project, while its big sister Ariane 6 will only fly ten years after the launch of the project led by parent company Arianegroup in 2014.
“We want to move forward quickly because we started a little behind the other players and want to achieve a quick return on investment,” confides Yohann Leroy, the boss of Maiaspace.
Micro and mini launch vehicle projects capable of putting hundreds of kilograms into orbit are proliferating to capture market share for the 2,600 “smallsats,” or satellites weighing less than 500 kilograms, that will be launched each over the next decade should be started next year, according to Euroconsult’s forecasts.
He estimates that there will only be room for “3 to 4 mini launchers” on the global market. Germany’s Isar Aerospace announces the first launch of its Spectrum rocket this year, while New Zealand Rocket Lab’s Electron has been in service since 2018.
Maia, the Maiaspace rocket, is larger than its companions and can carry 1.5 tons to low orbit, 500 kilos when it returns to land for reuse.
This flexibility would allow, according to Yohann Leroy, to have “two launchers for the price,” depending on whether or not they are reused through main stage recovery.
And payload capacity should improve over time as the launch vehicle design allows for more payload. But to go fast, Maiaspace doesn’t claim instant perfection.
“This helps secure the schedule. This approach, which goes hand in hand with an agile method, significantly reduces the risk of delays,” explains Yohann Leroy.
Prometheus
Maiaspace can also count on its proximity to the parent company: just a few meters away from “Quasi-modo”, the reusable Prometheus engine developed by Arianegroup is being prepared for ignition tests, together with components of the reusable stage demonstrator Themis, also developed by Arianegroup.
Maiaspace admits that it took inspiration from Themis for the main stage of its launch vehicle, which will use three Prometheus engines and another for the upper stage.
This support from the European space giant sparked criticism from start-ups developing their own mini-launchers who see competition as distorted.
With Prometheus, Maiaspace avoids long and costly development. “But under market conditions we are customers of our parent company, like any potential customer,” argues Yohann Leroy.
In order to aim for a rate of one to two monthly market launches at travel speed, the start-up is preparing to industrialize its production in a “Maia Factory”.
The former Ariane 5 Vulcain engine assembly hall currently serves as a workshop for the components of the future rocket.
“It is the prototype of the factory,” explains Jean-Michel Sannino, its director. “It’s in SpaceX’s mentality, the factory is a product like any other.”