Astrium Ottobrunn - Launch Vehicle Propulsion

Manufacturing and Production centre for bipropellant and cryogenic rocket engines, thrust chambers, propellant and pressurant valves.

Vulcain 2

Since 1957, rocket propulsion technology has been one of the most important and successful core businesses of the Ottobrunn Space Propulsion Centre.

The Ottobrunn Centre specialises in the design, development and manufacture of rocket engines and thrust chambers for launch vehicles and upper stages using bipropellant and cryogenic propellant. Expertise is within the fields of rocket engines ranging from 500 N to 1350 kN thrust.

World-wide, the Ottobrunn Centre has one of the latest facilities for the manufacturing and production of rocket engines, thrust chambers, regeneratively cooled nozzles, injector elements, propellant & pressurant valves and aerospace components and assemblies.

The Ottobrunn team designed, developed and produced the rocket engines and thrust chambers that have contributed to the reliability and success of the Ariane launch vehicle since its maiden flight on Christmas eve in 1979. Since then, rocket engines and thrust chambers, produced at Ottobrunn, have provided thrust for all versions of Ariane 1 through to Ariane 5.

Thrust from Astrium Ottobrunn powers all stages of Ariane 5, including the Vulcain 1 and 2 core stage engines, Aestus, HM-7 and Vinci upper stage engines.

CRYOGENIC ROCKET ENGINES

HM7 Engine

HM-7b engine enlarge

In 1973, the Ottobrunn team started development of the thrust chamber for Ariane's HM-7 upper stage rocket engine. This cryogenic engine reliably powered the third stages of Ariane's 1 through 4 from 1979 to 2003.

Using LOX/LH2 propellants, the HM-7 rocket engine features Ottobrunn's unique regenerative cooling technology whereby hydrogen propellant is efficiently used to cool the combustion chamber before being injected for combustion.

Important principles used in the HM-7 combustion chamber technology were adopted by NASA under licence and it is this technology that formed the basis of the US space shuttle main engines - the first reusable rocket engine in the world.

An upgraded HM-7 engine will be used on the new Ariane 5 cryogenic upper stage - A tribute to the performance and flight proven reliability of an engine first developed some 30 years ago. The resulting upper stage will increase the performance of Ariane 5 to 10 tonnes.

Use of HM-7 on Ariane 5 is a first step toward increasing payload performance. A second step will be the introduction of the new Vinci expander cycle engine to the new cryogenic upper stage, increasing the payload performance to 12 tonnes.

Vulcain Engine

Vulcain enlarge

The Ottobrunn centre produces the thrust chamber assembly for the Vulcain 1 and Vulcain 2 - the main engine that powers the core stage of Ariane 5. The thrust chamber assembly comprises:

Regeneratively cooled combustion chamber.
Coaxial propellant mixing injectors.
Dump cooled nozzle extension.
Gimbal joint.

 

Vulcain nozzle enlarge

With combustion temperatures up to 3000 degrees Celsius, Vulcain 2 produces a thrust of 1,350 kN, corresponding to a power of over four million HP. This means that a single Vulcain 2 engine can deliver more thrust than the four combined engines of a Jumbo jet.

The development and production of the Vulcain 2 thrust chamber is available on movie (mpg file)

The LOX and LH2 propellant valves for the Vulcain engine are also manufactured and produced at the Ottobrunn Production Centre.

Vinci Engine

Today, the Ottobrunn team is responsible for the development and production of the thrust chamber for the new Vinci expander cycle engine. The Vinci engine will be used on the future cryogenic upper stage of Ariane 5.

Vinci will be the first European re-ignitable cryogenic upper-stage engine and is planned to be operational in 2006.

The Vinci rocket engine, together with its cryogenic upper stage, will increase the payload of Ariane 5 to 12 tonnes. It will also be possible to re-ignite the engine up to five times.

Unlike traditional turbopump cryogenic engines, the Vinci expander cycle engine does not need a gas generator to drive the LOX and LH2 turbo-pumps.

On 20 May 2005, the Vinci engine performed its first flawless ignition and hot-fire test at DLR's Lampoldshausen P4.1 test stand. The test marked a further milestone in the development of a more efficient cryogenic engine for the future evolution of Ariane 5.

BIPROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINES

Aestus Engine

Aestus / Ariane 5 upper stage enlarge

The Aestus rocket engine was developed at Ottobrunn during the period 1988 - 1995. Aestus is a pressure-fed engine used on the bipropellant upper stage of Ariane 5.

The Aestus engine enables multiple re-ignitions and a highly reproducible restart - necessary for the precision injection of Ariane's multiple payloads. The first operational flight of Aestus was on 30 October 1997 on Ariane 5 flight 502.

The Ottobrunn team are currently working on an upgrade to Aestus so that it can be re-ignited up to five times during its 30 minute flight. This modification will enable Ariane 5 to inject several satellites into different orbital positions.

A more powerful turbopump version of Aestus has also been developed, known as the RS 72.

Both pressure-fed and turbopump versions of Aestus feature a novel, highly efficient coaxial injector element. By varying the number of injector elements, the engine thrust level, and size, can be adapted to precisely match specific customer requirements.

ROCKET ENGINE PROPELLANT & PRESSURANT VALVES

Cryogenic Propellant latch valve

Propellant valves for rocket engines and rocket propulsion system are also designed, developed and produced at Ottobrunn.

The Ottobrunn Centre supplies cryogenic propellant valves for the core stage propellant tanks of Ariane 5. These valves are used for controlling the propellant tank pressure, as well as for controlling the supply of LOX and LH2 propellants to the Vulcain engine. The Ottobrunn Centre also supplies propellant valves for the HM 7 engine and Vinci engine.

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION CENTRE

The Ottobrunn Production Centre has been a centre of competence for over 40 years in the field of high precision manufacturing of rocket engines, thrust chambers, propellant valves and propulsion system components. The centre employs a vast array of specialist disciplines for the production of each rocket engine and thrust chamber.

The Production Centre uses the latest state of art robot, automated and CNC manufacturing techniques. Production is just a part of our persistent drive to assure the highest possible quality, consistency and efficiency of our liquid propellant rocket engines and combustion chambers. The recent introduction of the latest, high-performance machining technology has allowed components for space applications to be processed ten times faster than before - and to the cost, reliability and performance benefit of our customers.