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On Tuesday 9 July, the maiden flight of Ariane 6 marked a major new stage in Europe’s space odyssey, and a strategic turning point for the independence of Europe and France in terms of access to space. And it’s a jewel of technology that has risen into the sky above the Guiana Space Centre!
Meeting the demands of NewSpace
One of these technologies is the Vinci assembler: “It is capable of relighting in space, enabling several satellites to be placed in orbit on a single mission and offering unprecedented flexibility,” explains Annafederica Urbano, a lecturer and researcher specialising in space propulsion and space transport systems.
Another advantage of Ariane 6 over its predecessor is “its modularity and versatility”. It’s a rocket designed to be able to handle very different missions, and thus meet the requirements of the NewSpace market.
While this maiden flight represents major technological advances, researchers at ISAE-SUPAERO are also working on the engines of the future, at a time when competition from the United States and China is pushing Europe’s space industry to speed up its development.
Researchers in the Space Systems Design laboratory are working on future generations of launchers, in particular reusable engines, and on the behaviour of fluids in rocket engines. Their research work is supported by ArianeGroup and Airbus Defence & Space as part of the SaCLaB2 chair, CNES, ESA, ANR and the Occitanie Region.
Methane and its complexity
Annafederica Urbano and her team of four PhD students and two post-docs are particularly interested in liquid propulsion. In particular, methane, considered to be the fuel of the future. Methane is considered to be the fuel of the future: “It reduces the cost of hydrogen while maintaining satisfactory performance”, she explains. Although not used in the Ariane 6 engines, it will be used in the Raptor engines on the Starship produced by the American SpaceX. The problem: “Using it involves complex phenomena that are still poorly understood”.
Another challenge facing the researcher and her team is that of reusable engines and “the way in which fluids behave on landing compared with other phases of flight”. “By reducing the thrust of the engine to land, the oxygen injected into the engine becomes liquid”, explains Annafederica Urbano. The researcher has just obtained funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR) via a “young researcher” grant to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, “the fundamental principles of which are poorly understood”.
Numerical simulations
In order to explore and better understand these phenomena, Annafederica Urbano’s team is working to establish numerical models of fluids and latest-generation rocket engines. It also relies on artificial intelligence algorithms to extract models based on calculations and thus create representative simulations, reducing the number of costly tests.
“In a decade’s time, we will be able to design rocket engines using digital modelling, supported by practical experiments”, predicts the researcher. Including those of the future Ariane?
Annafederica Urbano, Professor of Space Systems and Launchers at ISAE-SUPAERO
“Specialising in space propulsion and space transportation systems”, I obtained my PhD in 2012 from La Sapienza University in Rome after a thesis on the regenerative cooling system for liquid methane rocket engines. I continued my research in the fields of combustion and the study of two-phase flows. I joined ISAE-SUPAERO in 2019 as a teacher-researcher in space systems and launchers, in the Design and Operation of Aerospace Vehicles (DCAS) department. I am responsible for the chair in advanced space concepts (SaCLaB2), developed in partnership with Airbus Defense and Space and ArianeGroup. In the field of training, I give courses on launch systems and rocket propulsion to students on the Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering and the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering course.
Space-related training at ISAE-SUPAERO
Training in space engineering is an important part of the engineering and masters courses. The Space Systems Design laboratory regularly welcomes students from these courses for research projects or internships.
ISAE-SUPAERO also offers two Specialised Masters® – one year of post-Master’s specialisation – entirely devoted to space studies:
- MS Space Applications & Services (SPAPS), in partnership with Airbus Defense and Space, which provides training in space telecommunications and Earth observation applications;
- MS Space Systems Engineering (TAS ASTRO), which provides training in space systems engineering.
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