 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
ESA Testing Main Vega Engine
Paris, France (SPX) Jun 16, 2006 ESA announced Thursday it has dedicated a new test facility for the directional control system of the Vega rocket's main engine and is conducting performance measurements. Vega, designed to be Europe's next-generation launch vehicle for small payloads, is undergoing a crucial series of tests this year, ESA said in a news release, including engine firings, mechanical and electrical performance verifications and system-level trials. Space agency technicians began measuring the performance of the control loop of Vega's first stage last month. Vega's first stage, known as P80, is a solid-fuel rocket motor which includes a thrust-vector control system consisting of two electromechanical actuators that operate a movable nozzle. The TVC system moves the nozzle to control the pitch and yaw of the launcher - the attitude of the vehicle in relation to the flight direction - during flight. In order to characterize TVC behavior under various conditions that could occur during flight, and to verify the functionality of the control loop, ESA has built a dedicated validation facility at ELV SpA, in Colleferro Italy. The facility will allow examination of all aspects of system performance using fully representative hardware, including: - the two electromechanical actuators, designed and manufactured by SABCA of Belgium; - their associated electronics unit � known as the Integrated Power Distribution Unit � also designed and manufactured by SABCA of Belgium; - a mechanically representative model of the rocket nozzle, which was designed and manufactured by Snecma Propulsion Solide of France, and - a battery set employing lithium-ion technology, designed to provide a more complete representation of operational conditions in some test scenarios, designed and manufactured by Saft of France. The design, manufacture and assembly of the components of the TVC Validation Model have been lead by Europropulsion SA, a jointly-owned subsidiary of Snecma Propulsion Solide (France) and Avio SpA (Italy), which is the Prime Contractor for the P80 main engine. Construction of the test plant, including mechanical parts and ground support equipment for electronic command and measurement acquisition, has been carried out under the responsibility of ELV SpA, the Prime Contractor for the Vega launch vehicle. Management of the P80 demonstrator program is under the responsibility of the P80 Integrated Project Team (ASI, CNES and ESA), located at the CNES facility in Evry, France. The TVC subsystem tests are expected to last for several months. They will allow checking of the control sequence that will be used during the first P80 motor static firing test, scheduled to be conducted in Kourou during the last quarter of this year. At a later stage, during the system test campaigns, the TVC Validation Model will also be used for overall system verification. It will be controlled by a test version of the Vega onboard computer and flight software, making use of the inertial measurement system simulator and the simulated flight dynamics environment. Related Links ESA
Steve Cook At Marshall Leads Development Of New Space Launch Vehicles
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 16, 2006As a child, Steve Cook dreamed of someday launching space vehicles, and astronauts, to worlds far beyond his hometown of Bloomington, Minn. Today, he's living that dream. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
