“You do not have the monopoly of the heart” assénait Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to Mitterrand in 1974. “You do not have a monopoly on innovation,” replies Airbus Defence and Space ( Airbus DS) Elon Musk forty years later. American billionaire had excited the Landerneau space trying twice, in January and April, to land on the first floor of its Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic, just missing its target every time. It is now the turn of DS Airbus, prime contractor for the European launcher Ariane 5, unveiled its concept of partially reusable rocket.
Why is t it? The answer lies in an inconspicuous warehouse on the far south of the site of Airbus DS Mureaux (Yvelines). It is here, away from prying eyes, a team working in great secrecy since 2010 on the concept Adeline (for Advanced Launcher Expendable with Innovative Economy Engine). A big twenty people in all, in collaboration with the Saint-Médard-en-Jalles (Gironde), Getafe (Spain) and Manching (Germany), who have already completed flight tests since 2010 on several generations of prototypes, now wisely stowed on the hangar floor.
A drone to return to earth
The idea basic Adeline, which required an investment of around 15 million euros, is simple: retrieve the most expensive part of the launch vehicle, namely the engine, propulsion bay and avionics related , representing 70 to 80% of the total value of a rocket. The launcher equipped Adeline system normally takes off, dropping the first floor once out of the atmosphere. Within this first stage, the tank is jettisoned in turn, releasing a “return module” (reusable parts) that will come back to earth on a ballistic trajectory (that of a ball that would have started) to speeds exceeding Mach 5.
The module is equipped with a heat shield that allows it to withstand the extreme heat of re-entry. Once back in the atmosphere, the machine turns into a kind of small UAV, by starting two removable screws on its wings, which allow him to finish his flight like an airplane, and land on a runway normal, like that of Cayenne in French Guiana if the system is adopted for future Ariane 6. “This solution allows a saving of around 30% on the cost of launch, ensures Hervé Gilbert, CTO of DS Space Systems Airbus . may be considered reusable motors 10 times, 20 times or more. “
A first launch 2025
The other advantage is that there is no need to develop a dedicated launcher: the system is designed as a kit, adaptable to any rocket provided it is liquid propulsion engines solid propulsion (powder) is too damaged to return to earth to be reused. The system is also relatively light: “It only takes 2 tons of fuel to the module when the Falcon 9 SpaceX needs 40 tons of propellant to come back to earth the first floor,” said Marc Vales, director of new . programs at Airbus Launchers Safran, Airbus and Safran joint venture in charge of developing the Ariane 6
The origin of the idea, a man Marc Prampolini now chief engineer of Adeline project, working on the concept in 2008, which quickly caught the eye of the boss François Auque. The first prototype is 5 kg and costs 500 euros. The following pass 500,000 euros. Airbus DS is now trying to convince the space agencies (ESA, CNES, DLR …) to fund the further development because it will spend sooner or later by a real rocket launch to validate the concept. “The first launch is possible by 2025, says François Auque. This obviously will not disqualify our priority remains the development of Ariane 6, with a first flight in 2020.”
In the US, a recovered engine helicopter …
Reuse a launcher, the idea is not new. Hergé had popularized in the Tintin album Explorers on the Moon , the rocket can land on the moon vertically, just like the Falcon 9 SpaceX. The US had also tried it out with their US space shuttles. The “boosters” (solid-propellant acceleration) of the launcher were dumped in the sea after takeoff, then recovered for reuse. But the process was far from ideal: we had to purge the engine seawater, tow them to the coast, dismantle them, wash them with clean water, and restore the nozzles and lighters at the company Thiokol. Too expensive, the system was abandoned, as the shuttles themselves.
The SpaceX bet to recover the first stage of its Falcon 9 presented the concept in vogue. Even ULA, the joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing that operates the Delta and Atlas launchers, puts it: she whipped out her concept in April Vulcan rocket, a rocket whose engines are reusable. While the concept seems a cryptic nothing to some observers: after the first stage separation, the engine off, enters the atmosphere, protected by an inflatable heat shield. Parachutes are deployed … and the engine is recovered in flight by a Chinook helicopter.
Electric space tugs
Adeline DS Airbus concept is simpler and less expensive. “More than technical terms, we thought in terms of economic efficiency,” says Marc Vales. In the longer term, Airbus is studying an even more ambitious project called Space Tugs, which would a revolution from current launches. Today, a satellite is launched by a multistage rocket. The upper floor propels the satellite to a transfer orbit, or its final orbit; Once this mission was accomplished, the upper floor is moved to a graveyard orbit.
The principle of Space Tugs, which are actually electric space tugs, is to let an upper floor in an orbit “parking”, which brought him a pitcher and a satellite of the propellant fluid. The Tug then places the satellite in its proper orbit, and back to his car to wait for her next mission. Advantage: the satellites do not need fuel to reach their final orbit. The pitchers are so big because they only deliver their load to Tugs. The Tug can even be used to repair, update, reposition, or refuel a satellite. An idea that would not refuse Elon Musk.
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