Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ENVOL (European Newspace Vertical Orbital Launcher)
Reporting period: 2020-02-01 to 2021-07-31
ENVOL main objective is to provide Europe its prime commercial, competitive and green launch service, utilizing a
true New Space approach to offer low-cost, frequent and flexible access to space to small satellites in the range of 100
to 200 kg by 2024.
To achieve this goal, the tip of the spear of European innovative space launch companies has joined forces to develop
a vertical orbital launch system that will:
• Act as an accelerator for the growth of the European New Space economy;
• Be competitive and prevail in a contested and global market;
• Attract enough investment to reach the tipping point of commercialization;
• Target achieving the first European orbital launch from Continental Europe;
• Compete for the EC Horizon Prize on European Low-Cost Space Launch;
• Be the first orbital launcher worldwide to use green hybrid rocket propulsion
true New Space approach to offer low-cost, frequent and flexible access to space to small satellites in the range of 100
to 200 kg by 2024.
To achieve this goal, the tip of the spear of European innovative space launch companies has joined forces to develop
a vertical orbital launch system that will:
• Act as an accelerator for the growth of the European New Space economy;
• Be competitive and prevail in a contested and global market;
• Attract enough investment to reach the tipping point of commercialization;
• Target achieving the first European orbital launch from Continental Europe;
• Compete for the EC Horizon Prize on European Low-Cost Space Launch;
• Be the first orbital launcher worldwide to use green hybrid rocket propulsion
Dissemination
The visual identify of ENVOL has been accepted by all consortium members as well as the general public, as the well-designed logo creates a recognizable identity for ENVOL. The website of ENVOL is available to the public since M06 and will continue to be updated with relevant content. ENVOL’s social media presence has been created, and ENVOL will update the public and relevant stakeholders on Twitter and LinkedIn in the weeks and months to come. The dissemination report of year 1 summarizes the findings of the dissemination activities. Furthermore, a conference paper about ENVOL has been submitted for IAC in October 2021.
Commercial Opportunities
The market for ENVOL has successfully be assessed, and identified a potential market for the ENVOL launch service.
The identified customer requirements have been fed into the design of the launch vehicle, and the finding have been shared with all relevant consortium members. However, the customer requirements have not been gathered in a workshop as originally planned, given the restrictions implicated by COVID-19. Instead, individual interviews have been conducted.
Launch System
In the first reporting period, the main task has been the identification and the definition of the High Level Requirements for the whole ENVOL system. This has been done relying on the market analysis, customer requirements, heritage from past H2020 projects and each partner’s experience in their field. The objective is to take into account every aspect of the whole mission such as reference orbit, launch vehicle architecture and characteristics, environment to withstand, interfaces between the launch system subassemblies, operations to carry out logistics.
Launch Vehicle
In the frame of CT’s system engineering activities, the architecture of the launch vehicle (LV) has been defined. Following the results of the first LV design loop, an architecture with 4 assemblies and 29 sub-systems was defined. Most of the specifications and the management of interfaces between those subsystems has been done during this period. To do so, the Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) model developed under the Capella tool has been used. The launch vehicle was modeled at physical level, i.e. definition of the elements of the launcher.
Ground Segment
The work in the present reporting period was focused on the interactions and collaboration with partner Andøya Spaceport (ASP). A Requirement review (RR) between ENVOL and ASC to assess the compatibility between both systems, flight and ground, and the acceptance and conformity of ENVOL launch service operating at Andøya Space Center at the current design point has been proposed.
Demonstrators
- Structure:
The process and tooling development has started based on the initial design loop. The structural design by CT has been made with manufacturing limitations and possibilities supplied by Airborne. Several iterations of the design have been performed and the best design has been used to start defining the manufacturing process and corresponding tooling.
After the first H2O2 immersion tests on a standard liner, it became clear that extra testing and research was needed to find a suitable liner that would be lightweight, H2O2 resistant and compatible with the composite material and corresponding production process.
- Turbo Pump:
The first objective of this task was the conceptual design of the turbopump unit, to be used in the propulsion system of the ENVOL LV. This has been done. Different aspects have been considered in the design, and particular attention has been focused not only on its performances but also on costs, market availability of COTS and development time. With all these aspects in mind, a final design considered optimal has been selected.
- H2O2 Compatibility:
Compatibility of different materials regarding high tested peroxide (H2O2 > 80%) needs to be investigated. Scope of this investigation is to compare and evaluate a certain sequence of suitable materials. For that purpose, a standard for the material coupons to be tested and a test procedure have been developed and discussed with project partners, to carry out the compatibility tests (immersion of material samples in PROPULSE® 875 for three weeks at 40°C). In the first half of 2021, four different metal materials (coupons) provided by Nammo and a workpiece provided by GKN were tested according the defined procedure.
Payload
Launch vehicle Command module (LCM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to an apply before flight (AFB) connector and external EGSE systems as well as the command signals from the LV which will activate the MPDA for use. Internally it is always grouped with the BM on the one side and a number of DIM modules and or LTM modules on the other and connected electrically with stack through connectors.
Deployer interface module (DIM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to at least 4 deployer HDRMs via connectors on its connector plate. Internally it is powered (ground and flight use) and configured (pre-flight) from the LCM on activation and can be configured to deploy attached HDRMs in a pre-defined deployment sequence. The DIM may be configured for a number of deployment systems and may be further developed to specific versions capable of interfacing to specific HDRM not already covered by the existing system.
Launch vehicle telemetry module (LTM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to the telemetry streams from the rest of the system. It has the ability to process this information and provide consolidated information on the system via dedicated external interface connectors. Status: Electrical design 80% completed. A preliminary status of the documentation needed and related to the procurement and the testing process has been reviewed. Plans and procedures have been initiated.
The visual identify of ENVOL has been accepted by all consortium members as well as the general public, as the well-designed logo creates a recognizable identity for ENVOL. The website of ENVOL is available to the public since M06 and will continue to be updated with relevant content. ENVOL’s social media presence has been created, and ENVOL will update the public and relevant stakeholders on Twitter and LinkedIn in the weeks and months to come. The dissemination report of year 1 summarizes the findings of the dissemination activities. Furthermore, a conference paper about ENVOL has been submitted for IAC in October 2021.
Commercial Opportunities
The market for ENVOL has successfully be assessed, and identified a potential market for the ENVOL launch service.
The identified customer requirements have been fed into the design of the launch vehicle, and the finding have been shared with all relevant consortium members. However, the customer requirements have not been gathered in a workshop as originally planned, given the restrictions implicated by COVID-19. Instead, individual interviews have been conducted.
Launch System
In the first reporting period, the main task has been the identification and the definition of the High Level Requirements for the whole ENVOL system. This has been done relying on the market analysis, customer requirements, heritage from past H2020 projects and each partner’s experience in their field. The objective is to take into account every aspect of the whole mission such as reference orbit, launch vehicle architecture and characteristics, environment to withstand, interfaces between the launch system subassemblies, operations to carry out logistics.
Launch Vehicle
In the frame of CT’s system engineering activities, the architecture of the launch vehicle (LV) has been defined. Following the results of the first LV design loop, an architecture with 4 assemblies and 29 sub-systems was defined. Most of the specifications and the management of interfaces between those subsystems has been done during this period. To do so, the Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) model developed under the Capella tool has been used. The launch vehicle was modeled at physical level, i.e. definition of the elements of the launcher.
Ground Segment
The work in the present reporting period was focused on the interactions and collaboration with partner Andøya Spaceport (ASP). A Requirement review (RR) between ENVOL and ASC to assess the compatibility between both systems, flight and ground, and the acceptance and conformity of ENVOL launch service operating at Andøya Space Center at the current design point has been proposed.
Demonstrators
- Structure:
The process and tooling development has started based on the initial design loop. The structural design by CT has been made with manufacturing limitations and possibilities supplied by Airborne. Several iterations of the design have been performed and the best design has been used to start defining the manufacturing process and corresponding tooling.
After the first H2O2 immersion tests on a standard liner, it became clear that extra testing and research was needed to find a suitable liner that would be lightweight, H2O2 resistant and compatible with the composite material and corresponding production process.
- Turbo Pump:
The first objective of this task was the conceptual design of the turbopump unit, to be used in the propulsion system of the ENVOL LV. This has been done. Different aspects have been considered in the design, and particular attention has been focused not only on its performances but also on costs, market availability of COTS and development time. With all these aspects in mind, a final design considered optimal has been selected.
- H2O2 Compatibility:
Compatibility of different materials regarding high tested peroxide (H2O2 > 80%) needs to be investigated. Scope of this investigation is to compare and evaluate a certain sequence of suitable materials. For that purpose, a standard for the material coupons to be tested and a test procedure have been developed and discussed with project partners, to carry out the compatibility tests (immersion of material samples in PROPULSE® 875 for three weeks at 40°C). In the first half of 2021, four different metal materials (coupons) provided by Nammo and a workpiece provided by GKN were tested according the defined procedure.
Payload
Launch vehicle Command module (LCM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to an apply before flight (AFB) connector and external EGSE systems as well as the command signals from the LV which will activate the MPDA for use. Internally it is always grouped with the BM on the one side and a number of DIM modules and or LTM modules on the other and connected electrically with stack through connectors.
Deployer interface module (DIM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to at least 4 deployer HDRMs via connectors on its connector plate. Internally it is powered (ground and flight use) and configured (pre-flight) from the LCM on activation and can be configured to deploy attached HDRMs in a pre-defined deployment sequence. The DIM may be configured for a number of deployment systems and may be further developed to specific versions capable of interfacing to specific HDRM not already covered by the existing system.
Launch vehicle telemetry module (LTM)
This module houses redundant interfaces to the telemetry streams from the rest of the system. It has the ability to process this information and provide consolidated information on the system via dedicated external interface connectors. Status: Electrical design 80% completed. A preliminary status of the documentation needed and related to the procurement and the testing process has been reviewed. Plans and procedures have been initiated.
On the technical side the way forward has been defined to reach the defined targets for the project, and on commersal side some activities has to catch up in the next periode.
The wanted results at the end of the project are to have a launcher design available, and establish a commercial enity and attract funding required to finance development and qualification of the ENVOL launcher.
The wanted results at the end of the project are to have a launcher design available, and establish a commercial enity and attract funding required to finance development and qualification of the ENVOL launcher.