CHEOPS-VHP-BB will contribute on strengthening, in the medium term, the European capacity to compete worldwide in electric propulsion satellites and missions. The maturing of VHP thrusters and EPS in Europe opens the door to a variety of new missions, providing new business opportunities for new services which serve society. In particular, the industrialization of space operations will require ad hoc space logistics network and systems. CHEOPS-VHP-BB provides a direct contribution to the roadmaps established for space logistics and the emergence of major players of air and maritime logistics into the space business. This can leverage considerable resources for the industrialization of space.
The reinforcing of the European commercial position in space will result to increasing market shares, and increased staffs with qualified employees and highly skilled specialists will be required in Industries and Academia, in the post 2025 era.
The higher knowledge emanating from the project, will also allow to enrich the academic courses in Space Technologies areas and therefore to the increase of student enrolment in pushing forward advanced technologies.
CHEOPS-VHP-BB will develop the essential building blocks which will allow critical areas to be addressed for the application of such solutions, and for their proper specification (advanced design and manufacturing methods including additive manufacturing, as well as model-based system engineering). It will permit the creation through the different European EPS solution suppliers to provide a technology and cost competitive advantage to their international counterparts which will be able to address the use of VHP solar or nuclear electric propulsion for a variety of IOS and exploration missions of the future.
Without CHEOPS-VHP-BB, European EPS solutions would be developed probably after American and Russian VHP solutions which will probably not be optimised for several missions and market applications, will not consider the use of breakthrough alternative propellants, and most importantly will not address the issue of their ground qualification for in-flight space use. In addition, the building blocks developed within the project will allow European solutions to be developed without reliance on non-European suppliers.
With the use of VHP EPS for IOS applications, the overall weight of future launcher payloads could be dramatically reduced impacting the costs of launching new satellites and spacecraft. This will reinforce EU capacity to access to space, which requires, amongst others, new concepts for reducing the production and operation cost such as reusability of launcher and vehicle components, and low cost, high thrust, green, modular, and autonomous propulsive systems. With VHP EPS solutions, orbit transportation is reduced through the reduction of the mass of chemical propellants that are replaced by electrical solutions. These solutions will help the space industry to face an emerging demand from customers to reduce satellite operation costs by providing new services, such as:
- Fast Orbit To Orbit Transport (OTOT) to optimize launch cost and allow for on-orbit assembly;
- Station Keeping / Orbit Transfer to extend life duration of operational satellites;
- On-Orbit Assembly of large structures and transfer to/from the operating orbit, taking into account the maintenance and deorbiting of the replaced assemblies.
