New PHOEBUS Contract Paves Way for Development of Future Lightweight Composite Rocket Stages
- ArianeGroup signs a new contract with ESA as lead contractor for the PHOEBUS project. This European Space Agency program aims to further the development of composite technologies, notably for the future upper stage of Ariane 6
- The future “black” carbon composite upper stage, called ICARUS (Innovative Carbon ARiane Upper Stage), will be lighter than the current metal upper stage and will further enhance the versatility and competitiveness of Ariane 6 in the next few years
- This contract, worth 14,6 M€, follows on from the first contracts signed in May 2019 and will confirm the technological maturity of the PHOEBUS demonstrator
MOULINEAUX, France (ArianeGroup PR) — The European Space Agency (ESA) and ArianeGroup, lead contractor and design authority for Ariane 6, have signed a new technological development contract in the field of carbon composites. The PHOEBUS (Prototype of a Highly OptimizEd Black UpperStage) program will increase the maturity of the technologies needed to lower both the manufacturing cost and the weight of the Ariane 6 upper stage. The goal is thus to improve its performance (in particular, an increased payload capacity of about two metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit), and to validate a new stage architecture.
Continued improvements to the competitiveness of the Ariane 6 launcher were designed-in from the outset and are proceeding incrementally throughout its development. The exploration and use of composite technologies are key aspects, for which MT Aerospace and ArianeGroup are combining the expertise of their teams in Augsburg and Bremen in order to design and test the PHOEBUS upper stage cryogenic composite technology prototype. This collaboration, which began in May 2019 with an initial phase A/B1 design contract, continues under the ESA contract signed today.
“One of the main challenges is to ensure that the composites are just as tight and robust as metal parts for the extremely cold and penetrating liquid hydrogen,” explained Pierre Godart, CEO of ArianeGroup in Germany. “This new contract demonstrates the confidence of the ESA and DLR space agencies in our team and in our partner MT Aerospace, with whom we have been working for a long time, notably on metal parts for Ariane 6. We will continue our collaboration to position Germany and Europe at the forefront of cryogenic composite technologies for the storage of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. It is thanks to the institutional support of our agencies, ESA, and DLR, that we can innovate under the best conditions and at the best cost for the benefit of all citizens of Europe.”
To demonstrate the maturity of all the necessary technologies, ArianeGroup will contribute its knowhow in launcher stage technology and systems integration, while MT Aerospace will be responsible for the materials and technologies intended for composite tanks and structures in cryogenic conditions. The technologies developed under this contract will be integrated into an upper stage demonstrator beginning in 2023, in order to demonstrate that the system is compatible on a large scale (scale 1 for the LOX tank and scale 2/3 for the LH2 tank) with the liquid oxygen-hydrogen mixture PHOEBUS paves the way not only for the further development of a new stage for Ariane 6 or other future launchers, but also for the introduction of cryogenic composite technologies for the aeronautics sector, by creating synergies between the two industries.
About ArianeGroup
ArianeGroup develops and supplies innovative and competitive solutions for civil and military space launchers, with expertise in all aspects of state-of-the-art propulsion technologies. ArianeGroup is lead contractor for Europe’s Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 launcher families, responsible for both design and the entire production chain, up to and including marketing by its Arianespace subsidiary, as well as for the missiles of the French oceanic deterrent force. ArianeGroup and its subsidiaries enjoy a global reputation as specialists in the field of equipment and propulsion for space applications, while their expertise also benefits other industrial sectors. The group is a joint venture equally owned by Airbus and Safran, and employs approximately 7,600 highly qualified staff in France and Germany. Its 2020 revenues amounted to 2.7 billion euros.
8 responses to “New PHOEBUS Contract Paves Way for Development of Future Lightweight Composite Rocket Stages”
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A composite structure cryogenic upper stage? Oh, this is very interesting.
I remember reading that Blue Origin was also working on composite structure propellant tanks for their liquid hydrogen fueled lunar lander system.
SLS delenda est
Not that interesting. As noted, the DC-XA had a composite LH2 tank a quarter-century ago. The late XCOR was said to have had its own composite LH2 tank technology.
I believe XCOR was developing a composite-structure LOX-tank (not LH2) for use on their Lynx spaceplane project.
SLS delenda est
Of course DC-X only carried about 9 tonnes of propellant. About 2/3 as much propellant as the first generation Centaur stage.
What is the largest successful composite tank yet made for liquid hydrogen? The Ariane 6 upper-stage is 5.4 meters diameter and carries 31 tonnes of propellant.
SLS delenda est
We’re going to find out over the next three years just how much of a dead end this approach is going to become. Once everyone is building SS SH class rockets, these folks will slowly start up chipping away at the heavy crude structures of the Starship class ships and start the process all over again. In any launch vehicle design class there’s a chapter on tuning your second stage based on the performance parameters of your first. I think future books will define the current active class of space launchers as the ICBM class boosters vs the bulk cargo/Starship class. There will be a chapter on calculating the optimum transition from ICBM to Starship based on planetary density and atmospheric characteristics.
A composite LH2 tank would certainly be great (afaik no operational rocket has used one until now? Rocketlabs Electron currently is the only vehicle flying with composite LOX tanks if I’m not mistaken?).
Unfortunately this falls into the usual category for European/ESA projects since the Ariane 5: too little, too late and most of all: too f…ing slow! A demonstrator by 2023? You must be kidding! Until this thing actually flies on an Ariane 6 (assuming this ever flies), Starship will be operational, will probably have landed on the moon and possibly even on Mars…
Just like the Vinci upper stage engine: originally planned for the ESC-B upgrade of Ariane 5 and to debut in 2006, it was put on hold in 2003 after the ESC-A maiden flight failure. While VInci development continued at a lower (snails) pace, ESC-B was revived as the Ariane 5 ME a few years later as an interim solution until Ariane 6 was available. But Ariane 5 ME was again shelved, “to speed up development of Ariane 6” (you must be joking, right?) and Vinci development again slowed down (it had already been designated to Ariane 6 before Ariane 5 ME was cancelled).
So if we a re lucky, Vinci will first launch in 2022 on Ariane 6 -> after almost 20 years of development…
If ESA, ArianeGroup and contractors continue at that pace with Phoebus and Prometheus, they might be able to speed up development by chartering suborbital Starship flights for faster delivery of components…. </sarcasm>
The DC-XA used a LH2 tank that was made of a graphite-epoxy composite material, but was only a test vehicle. But it’s LOX tank was made of an Aluminum-Lithium alloy. Of course the given reason for the failure of the X-33 program was the inability to create a V-shaped composite LH2 tank that worked successfully.
Thanks for sharing that bit about DC-XA, I wasn’t aware of that.