Low cost high thrust propulsion for European strategic space launchers - technologies maturation including ground system tests

Cost reduction and improving flexibility of European launch systems are the main challenges in order to foster European industry competitiveness on the global market.

The propulsion systems represent a significant part of launch system costs. It is necessary to mature new or optimised low cost effective (lower number of parts, better operability), high performance (high thrust to weight ratio, high specific impulse) and green propulsion concepts, technologies and propellants for high thrust engines.

The activities should address:

• Maturation of enabling technologies, building blocks, tools and processes including maintenance/overhaul and safety, up to TRL5/6 and subsystem tests including prototyping and integrated ground tests at subsystems level by 2025;
• Demonstration of the above technologies by subsystems and engine on-ground demonstration tests by 2026 to reach TRL 7.

The matured technologies, building blocks, tools and processes should be applicable to strategic launchers able to launch EU Space Programme components, with the objective of enabling operational capacities by 2030 and preferably earlier for current launch solutions. The tests should be appropriate to this objective.

The proposed activities must also support Europe's non-dependence objective and include the assessment of costs reduction investigations and test results towards the overarching objective mentioned in the expected outcomes.

The activities will address one or several of the following areas:

• low-cost propulsion,
• throttlability,
• HMS - Health Monitoring Systems,
• controllers taking advantage of AI,
• reduced number of parts with extensive application of Additive manufacturing, or new composite technologies,
• maintenance/overhaul,
• associated fluidics.

The activities should include as many as technologies possible in each area to maximise the number of matured technologies to be submitted to integrated tests at subsystem level and integration of subsystem (all technologies together) for engine firing tests by 2026.

All the activities should be complementary and coherent with the ESA on-going or future activities in particular those decided at the last ESA Ministerial held in November 2019 and planned to be decided at the ESA Ministerial planned in November 2022.

Proposals should provide all IPR dependencies and dependencies with other on-going activities, and detail the implementation, the reporting and the organisational as well as steering measures that will be taken to ensure that the proposed activities can be implemented and can achieve all the expected outcomes within the project schedule and budget.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.