1.
Launch vehicle
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In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from Earths surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad, Earth orbital launch vehicles typically have at least two stages, and sometimes as many as four or more. Expendable launch vehicles are designed for one-time use and they usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during atmospheric reentry. In contrast, reusable vehicles are designed to be recovered intact. The Space Shuttle was a part of a vehicle with components used for multiple orbital spaceflights. SpaceX has developed a rocket launching system to successfully bring back a part—the first stage—of their Falcon 9 and launch it again. A fully reusable VTVL design is planned for all parts of the ITS launch vehicle, Launch vehicles are often classified by the amount of mass they can carry into orbit. For example, a Proton rocket can lift 22,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, Launch vehicles are also characterized by their number of stages. Rockets with as many as five stages have been successfully launched, additionally, launch vehicles are very often supplied with boosters supplying high early thrust, normally burning with other engines. Boosters allow the engines to be smaller, reducing the burnout mass of later stages to allow larger payloads. Other frequently reported characteristics of vehicles are the launching nation or space agency. For example, the European Space Agency is responsible for the Ariane V, many launch vehicles are considered part of a historical line of vehicles of same or similar name, e. g. the Atlas V is the latest Atlas rocket. A small-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting up to 2,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit, a medium-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting 2,000 to 20,000 kg of payload into LEO. A heavy-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting 20,000 to 50,000 kg of payload into LEO, a super-heavy lift vehicle is capable of lifting more than 50,000 kg of payload into LEO. It refers to its 1,500 kg to LEO Vega launch vehicle as light lift, sounding rockets have long been used for brief, inexpensive unmanned space and microgravity experiments. Current human-rated suborbital launch vehicles include SpaceShipOne and the upcoming SpaceShipTwo, minimizing air drag requires a reasonably high ballistic coefficient, a ratio of length to diameter greater than ten. This generally results in a vehicle that is at least 20 m long. Leaving the atmosphere as early on in the flight as possible provides a velocity loss due to air drag of around 300 m/s, Launch vehicles of sufficient size are capable of launching payloads smaller than their orbital capability, to the Moon or beyond
2.
European Space Agency
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The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states, dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a staff of about 2,000. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 5 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs of launching, after World War II, many European scientists left Western Europe in order to work with the United States. The meeting was attended by representatives from eight countries, including Harrie Massey. The Western European nations decided to have two different agencies, one concerned with developing a system, ELDO, and the precursor of the European Space Agency. The latter was established on 20 March 1964 by an agreement signed on 14 June 1962, from 1968 to 1972, ESRO launched seven research satellites. ESA in its current form was founded with the ESA Convention in 1975, ESA has 10 founding member states, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. These signed the ESA Convention in 1975 and deposited the instruments of ratification by 1980, during this interval the agency functioned in a de facto fashion. ESA launched its first major scientific mission in 1975, Cos-B, ESA joined NASA in the IUE, the worlds first high-orbit telescope, which was launched in 1978 and operated very successfully for 18 years. A number of successful Earth-orbit projects followed, and in 1986 ESA began Giotto, its first deep-space mission, to study the comets Halley and Grigg–Skjellerup. Hipparcos, a mission, was launched in 1989 and in the 1990s SOHO, Ulysses. Recent scientific missions in co-operation with NASA include the Cassini–Huygens space probe, as the successor of ELDO, ESA has also constructed rockets for scientific and commercial payloads. Ariane 1, launched in 1979, brought mostly commercial payloads into orbit from 1984 onward, the successor launch vehicle of Ariane 5, the Ariane 6 is already in the definition stage and is envisioned to enter service in the 2020s. The beginning of the new millennium saw ESA become, along with agencies like NASA, JAXA, ISRO, CSA and Roscosmos, one of the major participants in scientific space research. Although ESA had relied on co-operation with NASA in previous decades, especially the 1990s, changed circumstances led to decisions to rely more on itself, a 2011 press issue thus stated, Russia is ESAs first partner in its efforts to ensure long-term access to space. ESA maintains its scientific and research projects mainly for astronomy-space missions such as Corot, launched on 27 December 2006 and this is the reason space exploration is an integral part of overall space activities. It has always been so, and it will be more important in the future. ESA describes its work in two overlapping ways, For the general public the various fields of work are described as Activities, Member states participate to varying degrees in the mandatory and optional space programmes
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Arianespace
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Arianespace SA is a French multinational company founded in 1980 as the worlds first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme, the main launch vehicles offered by the company are the Ariane 5, the Soyuz-2 as a medium-lift alternative, and the Vega as a lighter one. As of 2008, more than 240 commercial launches have occurred since May 22,1984, Arianespace states that the total number of launch contracts signed since Ariane launches commenced operations in 1984 is 285. Arianespace uses the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana as a launch site and it has its headquarters in Courcouronnes, Essonne, France, near Évry. On 21 October 2011 Arianespace launched the first Soyuz rocket ever from outside former Soviet territory, the payload was two Galileo navigation satellites. Arianespace primary shareholders are its suppliers, in the nations of the European Union. In 2004, Arianespace held more than 50 percent of the market for boosting satellites to geostationary transfer orbit. According to an Arianespace managing director, Its quite clear theres a significant challenge coming from SpaceX. Therefore things have to change … and the whole European industry is being restructured, consolidated, rationalised and streamlined, in early 2014, Arianespace requested additional subsidies from European governments to face the competition from SpaceX and unfavorable changes in the Euro-Dollar exchange rate. Overall Arianespace signed 11 contracts in 2014 until September, with two additional being in a stage of negotiations. Currently Arianespace operates 3 launch vehicles, including two versions of Ariane 5, Additionally Arianespace offers optional back-up launch service on H-IIA through Launch Services Alliance, new Ariane 6 vehicle is in development. It would be wise in league of Ariane 5 and has tentatively its first test flight in 2020 as of 2016. The Arianes Cup is a competition organized on behalf of the Industrials participating in the Ariane programme. Europa rocket NewSpace Comparable Launch Provider Company United Launch Alliance International Launch Services Space Exploration Technologies Antrix Corporation
4.
Ariane (rocket family)
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Ariane is a series of a European civilian expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. The name comes from the French spelling of the mythological character Ariadne, France first proposed the Ariane project and it was officially agreed upon at the end of 1973 after discussions between France, Germany and the UK. The project was Western Europes second attempt to develop its own following the unsuccessful Europa project. The Ariane project was code-named L3S, Arianespace launches Ariane rockets from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana. Ariane 1 was a launcher, derived from missile technology. Arianes 2 through 4 are enhancements of the basic vehicle, the major differences are improved versions of the engines, allowing stretched first- and third-stage tanks and greater payloads. The largest versions can launch two satellites, mounted in the SPELDA adapter, such later versions are often seen with strap-on boosters. These layouts are designated by suffixes after the generation number, first is the total number of boosters, then letters designating liquid- or solid-fueled stages. For example, an Ariane 42P is an Ariane 4 with two solid-fuel boosters, an Ariane 44LP has two solid, two liquid boosters, and a 44L has four liquid-fuel boosters. Ariane 5 is a complete redesign. The two storable lower stages are replaced with a single, cryogenic core stage and this simplifies the stack, along with the use of a single core engine. Because the core cannot lift its own weight, two solid-fuel boosters are strapped to the sides, the boosters can be recovered for examination, but are not reused. The upper stage is storable and restartable, powered by a single Aestus engine, on 4 May 2007, an Ariane 5-ECA rocket set a new commercial payload record, lifting two satellites with a combined mass of 9.4 tonnes. By January 2006,169 Ariane flights had boosted 290 satellites, attesting to the ubiquity of Ariane launch vehicles, Frances Cerise satellite, which was orbited by an Ariane in 1995, struck a discarded Ariane rocket stage in 1996. The incident marked the first verified case of a collision with a piece of catalogued space debris, on February 16,2011, the 200th Ariane rocket was launched, successfully carrying the Johannes Kepler ATV into low Earth orbit. Flyable models of the Ariane 4 and 5 are available as kits from Noris Raketen in Germany, Ariane 5 scale models are offered French Heller Joustra S. A in 1/125 scale, Arianespace in 1/125 and 1/100 scale, and Dragon Models Limited in 1/400 scale. ESA links to several models on its website, including Ariane 4. In 1987 Lambert Shelter built a 5.40 metre long flyable model of the Ariane, now displayed at the Hermann Oberth Space Travel Museum in Feucht
5.
Guiana Space Centre
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The Guiana Space Centre or, more commonly, Centre Spatial Guyanais is a French and European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana. The European Space Agency, the French space agency CNES, and this was the spaceport used by the ESA to send supplies to the International Space Station using the Automated Transfer Vehicle. The location was selected in 1964 to become the spaceport of France, in 1975, France offered to share Kourou with ESA. Commercial launches are bought also by non-European companies, ESA pays two thirds of the spaceports annual budget and has also financed the upgrades made during the development of the Ariane launchers. Since April 4,2017, the centre has been occupied by 30 labor union leaders in the midst of the 2017 social unrest in French Guiana, Kourou is located approximately 500 kilometres north of the equator, at a latitude of 5°10. The near-equatorial launch location provides an advantage for launches to low-inclination Earth orbits compared to launches from spaceports at higher latitude, the proximity to the equator also makes maneuvering satellites for geosynchronous orbits simpler and less costly. Originally built in the 1960s under the name of CECLES, the ELV pad located at 5. 236°N52. 775°W /5.236, one Europa-II was launched from the site, before the programme was cancelled. The pad was demolished, and subsequently rebuilt as the first launch complex for Ariane rockets, renamed ELA, it was used for Ariane 1 and Ariane 2 and 3 launches until being retired in 1989. It was again refurbished for the Vega with the first launch performed on 13 February 2012, the ELA2 pad, located at 5. 232°N52. 776°W /5.232, -52.776 had been used for Ariane 4 launches until 2003. ELA3 has been active for Ariane 5 launches since 1996 and this facility is located at 5. 239°N52. 768°W /5.239, -52.768 and covers an area of 21 square kilometres. ESA has built ELS at 5. 305°N52. 834°W /5.305, the first Soyuz launch from ELS was postponed several times, but launched on October 21,2011. ELS is located on the territory of Sinnamary commune,27 km from Kourou harbor and it is 10 km north of the site used for the Ariane 5 launches. Russia will use the Guiana Space Centre in addition to Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Guiana location has the significant benefit of greatly increased payload capability, owing to the near equatorial position. A Soyuz rocket with a 1.7 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit performance from Baikonur, the ELS project is being co-funded by Arianespace, ESA, and the European Union, with CNES being the prime contractor. The project has a projected cost of approximately €320 million, where €120 million are allocated for modernizing the Soyuz vehicle, the official opening of the launch site construction occurred on 27 February 2007. Excavation work however, had begun several months beforehand. By October 2010,18 launch contracts had been signed, Arianespace has ordered 24 launchers from Russian industry. On October 21,2011, two Galileo IOV-1 & IOV-2 satellites were launched using a Soyuz-ST rocket, in the first Russian Soyuz vehicle ever launched from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana, astrium assembles each Ariane 5 launcher in the Launcher Integration Building
6.
ELA-1
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ELA-1, short for Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 1, also known as Ensemble de Lancement Vega, ELV, and CECLES, is a launch pad at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guyana. It has been used to support launches of the Europa rocket, Ariane 1, Ariane 3, ELA-1, at the time designated CECLES was constructed as an equatorial launch site for the Europa-II rocket which was being built as part of the ELDO programme. The first launch occurred on 5 November 1971 and this was the only flight of the Europa-II, which ended in failure due to a guidance problem. The launch site was mothballed, and later demolished, when the Ariane 1 programme was started, to replace the failed ELDO programme, a new launch site was built on the site of the former CECLES pad. This was designated Ensemble de Lancement Ariane, or ELA for short, the first Ariane 1 launch occurred on 24 December 1979. ELA was also used by Ariane 2 and 3 rockets, which first flew on 31 May 1986 and 4 August 1984 respectively, ELA was redesignated ELA-1 when the Ariane 4 entered service in 1988, as this launched from a separate launch pad, designated ELA-2. The Ariane 1 was retired on 22 February 1986, the Ariane 2 on 2 April 1989, a new launch pad built at ELA-1 and designated Site de Lancement Vega, or SLV, was constructed for the Vega rocket. Vega made its first launch from the complex on 13 February 2012, situation on 31 December 2015 Ariane 1 Ariane 2 Ariane 3 Ariane Europa Vega ELA-2 Guiana Space Centre Encyclopedia Astronautica - Kourou
7.
Specific impulse
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Specific impulse is a measure of the efficiency of rocket and jet engines. By definition, it is the total impulse delivered per unit of propellant consumed and is equivalent to the generated thrust divided by the propellant flow rate. If mass is used as the unit of propellant, then specific impulse has units of velocity, if weight is used instead, then specific impulse has units of time. Multiplying flow rate by the gravity before dividing it into the thrust. In rockets, this means the engine is more efficient at gaining altitude, distance and this is much less of a consideration in jet engines that employ wings and outside air for combustion to carry payloads that are much heavier than the propellant. Specific impulse includes the contribution to impulse provided by air that has been used for combustion and is exhausted with the spent propellant. Jet engines use air, and therefore have a much higher specific impulse than rocket engines. The specific impulse in terms of propellant mass spent is in units of distance per time and this is higher than the actual exhaust velocity because the mass of the combustion air is not being accounted for. Actual and effective exhaust velocity are the same in rocket engines not utilizing air, Specific impulse is inversely proportional to specific fuel consumption by the relationship Isp = 1/ for SFC in kg/ and Isp = 3600/SFC for SFC in lb/lbf-hr. The amount of propellant is normally measured either in units of mass or weight, however, if propellant weight is used, an impulse divided by a force turns out to be a unit of time, and so specific impulses are measured in seconds. These two formulations are both used and differ from each other by a factor of g0, the dimensioned constant of gravitational acceleration at the surface of the Earth. Note that the rate of change of momentum of a rocket per unit time is equal to the thrust, the higher the specific impulse, the less propellant is needed to produce a given thrust during a given time. In this regard a propellant is more efficient the greater its specific impulse and this should not be confused with energy efficiency, which can decrease as specific impulse increases, since propulsion systems that give high specific impulse require high energy to do so. It is important that thrust and specific impulse not be confused, the specific impulse is a measure of the impulse produced per unit of propellant expended, while thrust is a measure of the momentary or peak force supplied by a particular engine. In many cases, propulsion systems with high specific impulses—some ion thrusters reach 10,000 seconds—produce low thrusts. When calculating specific impulse, only propellant that is carried with the vehicle use is counted. Air resistance and the inability to keep a high specific impulse at a fast burn rate are why all the propellant is not used as fast as possible. If an engine weighs more in order to gain a specific impulse, it may not be as efficient in gaining altitude, distance
8.
Viking (rocket engine)
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The version used on the Ariane 4 first stage, which clustered four together, had 667 kN thrust each. The second stage of Ariane used a single Viking, over 1000 were built, and achieved a high level of reliability from early in the program. The 144 Ariane 1 to 4 used a total of 958 Viking engines, only 2 engines have led to a failure. The first failure was due to a crack in the chamber, the second is of human origin. Initially, all the engines were tested before being integrated on a launcher, beginning in 1998, engineers, confident of the reliability of the engine, authorized the use of untested engines on launchers. Some engines, randomly taken in the workshops of assembly, were tested from time to time and this confidence is very rare in the world of space engines. Karl-Heinz Bringer - designer of Viking and A4 engine Vernon, French manufacturers history site
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