STEPHANE CORVAJA / AFP
The Vega-C rocket during liftoff for its maiden VV21 flight, in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 13, 2022.
SPACE – Space Europe now wants to guarantee the future reliability of its launcher. The failure of the first commercial flight of the European rocket Vega-C last December was due to the deterioration of a Ukrainian part in its Zefiro 40 engine. This is indicated by the conclusions of a commission of inquiry presented this Friday, March 3 by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The December 21 flight went smoothly until shortly after the engine, Zefiro 40, of the rocket’s second stage was ignited, said Pierre-Yves Tissier, an Arianespace official and co-chair of the commission of inquiry. . The engine, supposed to operate at constant pressure, recorded a continuous drop in this pressure in its nozzle until the point where, three minutes and 27 seconds after takeoff, “ the acceleration of the launcher has become almost zero”explained Pierre-Yves Tissier.
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Approximately 2 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff an anomaly occurred on the Zefiro 40 thus ending the Vega C mi… https://t.co/pKvKomyS7X
— Arianespace (@Arianespace)
The order to destroy the launcher, built by the Italian Avio, was then given while Vega-C was above the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the loss of two Airbus Earth observation satellites , Pleiades Neo 5 and 6.
The commission of inquiry commissioned by ESA, the launch development authority, and Arianespace, its operator, concluded that the loss of pressure was due to the deterioration of the nozzle throat, which directs and regulates the combustion gases towards this last. This nozzle throat, a carbon composite part made by Ukrainian Youjnoye, did not withstand the enormous pressure and temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees. Pierre-Yves Tissier mentioned a “unexpected thermo-mechanical erosion” of this part, resulting from a lack of homogeneity of its material.
End of 2023 target
The commission of inquiry therefore did not question the design and development of the launcher. But instead recommended a series of measures to ensure the future reliability of Vega-C.
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ESA chief Josef Aschbacher admitted “failures in the system”while noting a “very clear action plan” pour “emerge stronger from this crisis”. With the target of a commercial launch of Vega-C towards the end of 2023, with the payload, to be confirmed, the Earth observation satellite Sentinel 1-C on behalf of the European Union.
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Soon…
#VV22 https://t.co/NnkNWi7f0K— Arianespace (@Arianespace)
This plan aims to guarantee the reliability of the nozzle neck by using another material, supplied by ArianeGroup, as well as a new phase of qualification of the Zefiro 40 engine. And finally measures guaranteeing the reliability of the supply chain to manufacture the pitchers.
Avio’s CEO, Giulio Ranzo, justified the choice to acquire the offending part from Youjnoye, a reputable missile manufacturer, by the fact that at the time the Zefiro 40 engine was developed, “the availability of the necessary European material in sufficient quantity and within the required deadlines was not possible”.
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He defended the initial choice by noting that the two Zefiro 40 firing tests and the Vega-C test flight had been uneventful. Avio has now secured a supply of carbon composite, manufactured by ArianeGroup and used for the engines of the small Vega launcher, which is “enough for several flights” de Vega-C, to said M. Ranzo.
The stakes are crucial for Europe in space. Beyond the last two launches of Ariane 5 and two others of Vega, it now has no means of launching its satellites before the first flight of Ariane 6 scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. and the resumption of Vega-C flights.
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