Descripción del proyecto
RRTB - Un sistema disruptivo de recuperación de cohetes pequeños
Numerosas industrias como la agricultura, la energía, la ingeniería civil y el sector de la defensa precisan de satélites pequeños (con masas inferiores a los 500 kilos). Para abastecer este mercado existe una gran actividad mundial en el desarrollo de microlanzadores. No obstante, para ofrecer un acceso rentable y flexible al espacio basado en satélites pequeños, es fundamental innovar en los planos operativo y tecnológico. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos RRTB desarrollará un sistema de recuperación disruptivo que permita reutilizar la primera etapa del microlanzador MESO. Sus responsables estudian la reentrada atmosférica del vehículo, la fase de aterrizaje de la primera etapa mediante ventiladores de flujo guiado innovadores y el diseño de tanques criogénicos sólidos y de estructura reutilizable.
Objetivo
The rise of small satellites and large constellations is changing the satellite industry. Due to the growth of the small satellite market, launch has become the bottleneck of the industry. According to MT Aerospace the micro-launcher market will grow as much as four to seven times in the next decade, with a full market potential of up to €7B.
The RRTB consortium believes that a tailored service for access to space for small satellites is required. However, micro-launchers regularly have higher launch costs per kilogram than bigger launchers. Today, the cornerstone of this emerging market is the economic viability of launching small payloads at high frequencies to dedicated orbits. According to the RRTB consortium, technological development and vehicle reuse are fundamental steps to bring down the cost of launch and access-to-space.
This project investigates the recovery and return to base system (RRTB) for the first stage of the MESO launch vehicle. The recovery and return to base system is divided into two parts:
1. Passive atmospheric reentry: The atmospheric reentry of the first stage of the vehicle will be a passive reentry. During the project this phase, together with its required hardware, will be investigated and defined during the project by Pangea Aerospace together with Deimos Space and VKI.
2. Horizontal landing: Landing of the first stage of the vehicle is intended to be performed using a novel patent pending horizontal landing technology that uses electric ducted fans situated in both sides of the first stage of the launch vehicle to brake the fall of first stage, control it and perform a safe landing. This phase will be studied by TUM and Pangea Aerospace.
Furthermore during the project the structural design and analysis of the MESO launch vehicle, as well as an investigation of the launch vehicle's propellant tanks (a critical component for cost-efficient reuse), will be performed. This work will involve RWTH, Heron, TAS, Toseda and Pangea.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SPACE-2019
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
08040 Barcelona
España
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.