Description du projet
RRTB – Un système révolutionnaire de récupération des petites fusées
La demande en petits satellites (d’une masse inférieure à 500 kg) est alimentée par de nombreuses industries, de l’agriculture à l’énergie en passant par le génie civil et la défense. Pour servir ce marché, des micro-lanceurs sont développés partout dans le monde. Toutefois, pour offrir aux petits satellites un accès rentable et flexible à l’espace, l’innovation technologique et opérationnelle est fondamentale. Le projet RRTB, financé par l’UE, entend mettre au point un système de récupération révolutionnaire qui permettra la réutilisation du premier étage du microlanceur MESO. Le projet étudie le retour dans l’atmosphère du véhicule, la phase d’atterrissage du premier étage à l’aide de soufflantes électriques canalisées novatrices, et la conception d’une structure et de réservoirs cryogéniques robustes et réutilisables.
Objectif
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.
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
08040 Barcelona
Espagne
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.