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Programmes

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A New Cryogenic
Engine for Ariane 5
Upper Stage
Frkdkric

JEAN

On 77 and 72 May 7999, a very important milestone for the long

term competitiveness
of the European space transportation
industry has been reached. Among other programmes decided
at the European Space Agency Ministerial council, in Brussels,
was the development
of a new upper stage and its cryogenic
propulsion system for Ariane 5.

first phase had been decided

in June 1998for a first year of
activity in this field (Qure 2).
This second phase will last
up to the end of 2001.

Why and how?

The design of the Ariane 5 launcher is
based on three propulsive systems. A
booster stage, with two solid propellant
motors, called EAP (Etage dAccel&
ration a Poudre - Solid Propellant Acceleration Stage) and a cryogenic core stage,
the EPC (Etage Principal Cryotechnique Main Cryogenic Stage), are both ignited
at ground level. To reach the orbit, an
upper stage is needed. In its present
design, the EPS (Etage a Propergol
Stockables - Storable Propellant Stage)
uses so-called storable propellants.
The performance in dual launch conditions on geostationary transfer orbit
(GTO) is close to 6 metric tons, but the
drastic increase of mass of the spacecraft
requires an important improvement of
this performance. The goal has been
identified at the level of 11 tons by the
end of 2005. This means roughly being
able to double the launcher capacity.
Improvements of the launcher are already under development, in the frame of
the Ariane 5 Evolution Programme. This
includes, for example, the development
of the VULCAIN 2 engine.

Beyond these improvements, the only

way to face the payload capacity
requirement is to change the upper
stage from a storable system to a
cryogenic one. The great advantage of
cryogenic propulsion is linked with its
much higher specific impulse, in the
range of 460 seconds for an upper stage,
compared to about 324 seconds for the
present EPS stage.
The specific impulse of a rocket engine
is similar to the inverse of a specific
consumption (see box). The higher it is,
the less propellant is needed for a given
engine thrust; in other words, with a
given propellant loading, the engine
will run longer.
This improvement of about 40 % in the
specific impulse is obviously the key
factor for the general Ariane 5 performance improvement.
This performance increase of Ariane 5
will be achieved in two steps:
A first evolution will use a new
cryogenic upper stage, called ESC-A
powered by the present engine of the
Ariane 4 third stage: the HM7B. This
launcher will come into operation in
late 2001, with a dual launch GTO
capability of 9 tons;
The second step will be achieved
through an increase of the propellant
loading and a new generation engine.
This new stage will be called ESC-B

and it will be powered by VINCI. The

performance increase of this second
step is in the range of 2 tons, which
makes the launcher able to cope with
over 11 tons GTO payload in dual
launch, with a propellant loading of
25.6 tonsfor the ESC-B.

AIR

& SPACE

Figure 1. The future, new, Cryogenic

Engine for Ariane 5.
(Dot. SNECMA)
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Cryogenic
Long term competitiveness of Ariane 5
requires us obviously not to focus
exclusively on GTO missions to support
the launch strategy, but also to offer
versatility to the customer. Due to this,
the upper stage of Ariane 5 has also to
be compatible with missions requiring a
re-ignition of the engine, such as GTOt
or super-GTO missions, or constellation
implementations on various orbit planes. This represents a new requirement
for ESC-B and VESCO, compared to
ESC-A and HM7B which will be
devoted to GTO missions, since the
HM7B has not been designed from the
beginning to be a re-ignitable engine.
The Ariane 5 cryogenic upper stage and
VINCI developments are programmes
of the European Space Agency (ESA),
whose management has been delegated
to Centre National d/Etudes Spatiales
(CNES).

Some basic figures

of VINCI engine
There is a tradition in European space
propulsion. A rocket engine born in
Vernon in north west France, usually
has a name beginning with a V, like
VULCAIN, VIKING (Ariane 4 first and
second stage engine), and further in the
past VEXIN, VESTA, VERONIQUE;
these two last systems were not engines,
but sounding rockets from the 1960s.
Except this reference to local tradition,
VINCI is a fully new engine.
The thermodynamical
cycle of the
engine, in other words the way how the
pressure of the propellants is raised
from the tank pressure up to the
combustion chamber pressure, is new.
Up to now all European turbopumps
fed engines are gas generator engines.
In such systems, the turbines of the
turbopumps are powered by combustion gas, which are delivered by a
secondary chamber: the gas generator
(&WY 2). VINCI will be based on the
expander cycle, in which hydrogen is
first heated through heat exchange in
the cooling circuit of the main chamber
(,&UP 3). Through this process it gets
the requested enthalpy rise to drive the
turbines. This cycle allows a high
performance level and avoids a gas

Engine
-

generator. However it requires a very

good mastery of the heat exchange in
the chamber and a higher pressure rise
through the hydrogen turbopump. This
cycle also induces a very strong
functional coupling between all the
components of the engine: turbines,
pumps, chamber, valves.
Besides the cycle and its consequences
regarding adequate design of the
combustion chamber and the hydrogen
turbopump, new engine component
technologies are needed for VINCI.
To allow the engine to be re-ignitable, a
new electrical ignition system has to be
implemented, instead of the usual
single-shot pyrotechnic device.
A big nozzle extension is needed, in order
for the gas to reach the adequate exit
velocity and to match the corresponding
specific impulse. For the first time for
liquid rocket propulsion in Europe, this
nozzle is extendable lfiS~e 4). It consists
of a fixed skirt (Radiative Nozzle) and
a movable part (Extendable Nozzle),
which is deployed by a dedicated
electrical system (Deployment System)

Vulcain

LH2

c>

ic

++++ i + + + + + + +
-

LOX

for Ariane

after jettisonof the first stageandbefore

ignition of VINCI. In order to save
mass and to survive the very high
temperaturelevel, this nozzle is made
of compositeCarbon/carbonmaterials.
Due to the heat radiated by this black
body, the upper part of the engine
has to be protected through a heat
shield.
The engine tuning is performed in
several ways. A set of two electric
valves, the so-calledby-pass valves
(VBPH and VBPO - not visible on the
f&w 4) controlsthe flowfield through
the turbines, and then the working
point of the engine.This technologyof
electrical actuatorsis also a European
first in the field of cryogenicpropulsion.

Programme status
and main
development
challenges
The development and qualification of
the VINCI enginehave to be performed
in about sevenyears,from mid-1998to
mid-2005. This represents a major
challenge, compared to VULCAIN
developmentwhich requiredabout ten _
to eleven years. In order to savetime,
the design phasehas to be performed

++++

LH2
LOX
Hot

I
gas

Figure 2. Vulcain uses a Gas

Generator
Cycle. (Dot. SNECMA)

wcw

Figure 3. The Expander

(Dot. SNECMA)

Cycle.

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Programmes
quicker, the key issue being to come
faster to an adequate definition of all the
engine components.
This is partly possible due to the
improvement of the design tools (Computer Aided Design, Fluid mechanics and
Thermomechanical codes.. .), but improved management methods are also
essential.
By the end of the first year, the
thermodynamical lay-out of the engine,
which provides the main inputs/outputs for the design of the components
(flowrate, pressures, efficiencies.. .) has
been defined. The cost breakdown has
also been issued.
Design-to-cost procedures are now
needed, in order to finalize both performance and cost of the engine components.
Trade-off studies have been carried out.
The concept of most of the engine and of
its subsystem have now been defined
and approved through a feasibility
review process figure 5).
Detailed definition phase will soon
start, in parallelwith the long leaditems
procurement.A joint work, the so-called
concurrentengineering,hasto be managed between the designer and the
producer in order to cometo the right
product, in termsof timescale,costand
performance.
Not only the time, but alsothe developmentpricehasalsoto be severelyreduced
for VINCI. For examplethe amount of
hardware produced and tested will be
aboutthehalf of VULCAIN development.
Due to reductionof hardware,a drastic
reductionof cumulatedtest duration for
engine developmentwill occur. Those
tests will have to focus on the most
demandingworking conditions,in order
to be more efficient in the building and
demonstrationof the reliability of VINCI.
Riskanalysishasto beperformed,in order
to allow new developmentprocedures
which can save time and money, but
which impactdrasticallyon the development logic. Thus, the possibility of
performingthe first testsat enginelevel,
without referring to preliminary subsystems testsfor the turbopumpsand the
chamber,isbeinganalyzed.
In order to meet all these challenges,
a combined work between SNECMA

Extendable

Divergent

Deployment

Radiative

Figure 4. Engine
(Doe. SNECMA)

Mechanical

Lay-out.

98
+

Developmentkick-off
Engine and subsystems
pre-design

The nozzle

00

System

Divergent

is extendable.

03 04

01

Engine and subsystems

feasibility reviews
Engine and subsystems
PDRs
Engine and subsystems
definition
Engine and subsystems
CDRs
Engine tests
Stagetests

II I
+

Engine qualification
First flight
Figure 5. Development

p/an. (Dot.

& SPACE

SNECMA)

and its partners is mandatory. A

dedicated area, the European Team
Center, hasbeenrecently inaugurated
at SNECMA Vernon @gure 6). It will be
dedicatedto VINCI concurrentengineering acti-vities, and SNECMAs main
partnerswill have their own offices for
AIR

their representatives,throughout the

development.
The first enginetestispresentlyplanned
in mid 2001,and two test facilitieswill
be used for engine development: the
P4.1at DLRin Germany,andthe PF52at
SNECMA, Vernon.The testswill lastfor
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Cryogenic

Figure 6. European

Team Centefbuilding

about threeand a half years,in order to

cometo the qualificationof the enginein
mid 2005,prior to the first flight planned
beforethe end of 2005.

Engine

at Vernon, France. (Dot. SNECMA)

About

for Ariane

The industrial policy for the VINCI

development and production is being
set up. It relieswidely on the existing
structure issued from the previous
developments,and the relevant fieldsof
expertise among SNECMA and its
partners.
One year after ESAsdecisionto undertake the developmentof a new generation engine for Ariane 5 with the
goal of a first flight in late 2005, a
number of significant milestoneshave
alreadybeenreached.
The results gained in this first year
and the general commitment of the
European community to liquid space
propulsion, are consideredas important key points for the successof
the development of the VINCI engine
and for the competitiveness of the
Ariane 5 launcher on a long term
I
basis.

the Author:

Frkd&ic JEANisProjectManager,VINCIEngines,
cff Z%%l
For further

informci~i~Jpfease

Conclusion
The ESA Conferenceof 11and 12 May
1999has given the general budgetary
framework for the programmeand for
the financial resourcessharingbetween
the countries.

m.

CC&E&