Airbus and Safran Group and the space launch joint venture Ariane Group of the team responsible for the Ariane 6 project signed a contract with their Swedish supplier GKN Aerospace on September 4 for a reusable rocket engine Demonstration of turbines as part of Prometheus' project.
GKN Aerospace, Sweden's Trollhättan's aerospace business, will develop and manufacture two full-size turbines for Prometheus' low-cost reusable liquid oxygen and methane propellant rocket engine demonstrator. Prometheus is a funded program by the European Space Agency (ESA) to power Europe's future launchers, and the Ariana Group is the general contractor. The target price of the Prometheus engine is 1 million Euros, which is one-tenth of the cost of the Ariane 5 Vulcain 2 engine. The turbine will generate electricity for the methane fuel system and the first turbine will be delivered by the end of 2019.
GKN Aerospace has been active in the Ariana project since its establishment in 1974, and will use cutting-edge additive manufacturing technologies to reduce the number of turbine parts from more than 100 to two. Additive manufacturing of engine parts can speed up production and help reduce costs and lead times. The technology will enable the engine to meet temperature, pressure and speed standards. This development of turbines will also enable engineers to develop designs and AM processes for critical components of higher loads in the future.
To date, GKN Aerospace's Trollhättan Center has manufactured more than 1,000 combustion chambers and nozzles and more than 250 turbines for Ariane rockets. Sébastien Aknouche, vice president and general manager of engine systems for services and special products, said: "We are proud to be involved in the Prometheus project and to make a technical contribution to this important European space project. This allows us to work with our suppliers and our customers Collaboration, development and demonstration use of comprehensive advanced AM technology. We look forward to demonstrating its advantages and added value in terms of weight and cost reduction and faster production speeds. These factors, coupled with our expertise in space turbines, have been Won an engine turbine project contract. "
In June 2017, ArianeGroup signed the first contract with ESA to develop the Prometheus demonstrator, which will be partially developed using 3D printing technology and designed for liquid oxygen and methane. In December 2017, ESA and ArianeGroup signed a contract worth 75 million euros ($ 88 million) for the next stage of the 3D printed Prometheus demo engine, which will be tested on the ground in November 2020. The main goal is to build an engine that is at least ten times cheaper. Current engines, such as the Vulcain 2, date back to 2005 and cost about 10 million euros. The European Space Agency plans to power Prometheus' European launchers by 2030.
The new approach involves new design and manufacturing workflows and different rocket technologies. The development process of the demonstration engine will be converted from the traditional Ariana propellant (a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) to a new combination of liquid oxygen and methane. The Prometheus LOx-methane engine project will also utilize unprecedented levels of digitization for engine control and diagnostics. It will also introduce 3D printing in a connected factory environment for its prototyping and final production processes.