Ackermann 9/13/05 10:45 AM Page 6 FLPP Jürgen Ackermann, Jérôme Breteau, Jens Kauffmann, Guy Ramusat & Giorgio Tumino The Road to the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme, Directorate of Launchers, ESA, Paris Next-Generation European Launcher he Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) was approved by the – An overview of the FLPP Tlast ESA Ministerial Council and began in February 2004, ending a long period without a programme dedicated to future launchers at the European level. The aim is to prepare the Next Generation Launcher to be operational around 2020. System studies and technology activities therefore need to be conducted, including ground and in-flight tests, to foster new technologies capable of providing high performance and reliability, together with low life-cycle costs. The final choice between an expendable or reusable type of launch vehicle will be made on the basis of proven technological readiness and consolidated cost and risk assessments. Programmatics The Agency’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme was initiated in February 2004 with the aim of preparing for the development of Europe’s Next- Generation Launcher (NGL). The FLPP is designed to strengthen European industry’s innovative technology competences and foster progress in the launcher field in order to safeguard Europe’s guaranteed access to space in the longer term. The choice for the best Earth-to-orbit launch system architecture is essentially between an advanced expendable launcher and a fully or partially reusable vehicle. The final decision will be made on the basis of competitive launch cost and market requirements, such as expected commercial payloads and the European institutional mission needs stemming, for esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 7 Ackermann 9/13/05 10:45 AM Page 6 FLPP Jürgen Ackermann, Jérôme Breteau, Jens Kauffmann, Guy Ramusat & Giorgio Tumino The Road to the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme, Directorate of Launchers, ESA, Paris Next-Generation European Launcher he Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) was approved by the – An overview of the FLPP Tlast ESA Ministerial Council and began in February 2004, ending a long period without a programme dedicated to future launchers at the European level. The aim is to prepare the Next Generation Launcher to be operational around 2020. System studies and technology activities therefore need to be conducted, including ground and in-flight tests, to foster new technologies capable of providing high performance and reliability, together with low life-cycle costs. The final choice between an expendable or reusable type of launch vehicle will be made on the basis of proven technological readiness and consolidated cost and risk assessments. Programmatics The Agency’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme was initiated in February 2004 with the aim of preparing for the development of Europe’s Next- Generation Launcher (NGL). The FLPP is designed to strengthen European industry’s innovative technology competences and foster progress in the launcher field in order to safeguard Europe’s guaranteed access to space in the longer term. The choice for the best Earth-to-orbit launch system architecture is essentially between an advanced expendable launcher and a fully or partially reusable vehicle. The final decision will be made on the basis of competitive launch cost and market requirements, such as expected commercial payloads and the European institutional mission needs stemming, for esa bulletin 123 - august 2005 7 Ackermann 9/13/05 10:45 AM Page 8 Launchers FLPP The current family of launchers that will be operating in the near- In its first two years, the FLPP to allow quantification of performance, and medium-term from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana programme is concentrating on assessing flexibility of operations, reliability, cost the attractiveness of reusability from the and safety. On the basis of these concepts, launcher affordability and robustness a number of system-level trade-offs standpoints. Decisive progress has to be dealing with such aspects as propellant made, however, with respect to current combinations, stage arrangements, launch technology to achieve a robust, low-cost, modes and return-flight options will be reusable system. The system requirements, performed. A further task will be to overall development logic and tech- elaborate guidelines and well-quantified Sub-orbital concept (Courtesy of DLR) nological demonstrations required to objectives for the RLV technology design and build such a demanding vehicle developments in order to be able to are going to be assessed, focusing on the monitor their coherence and feed the most critical areas, like propulsion, results into the vehicle concept studies. • semi-reusable concepts using a Liquid materials and structures, aerothermo- The objectives for the in-flight and on- Fly-Back Booster (LFBB) or Reusable dynamics, vehicle health management and ground experiments and demonstrations First Stage (RFS) avionics. These new technologies will be will also be derived from the system needs. • sub-orbital concepts able to foster new system concepts. In At a later stage, i.e. during FLPP Period-2, • fully reusable Two Stage To Orbit addition, Europe plans to develop and system studies of expendable NGL (TSTO) concepts. operate hypersonic experimental vehicles concepts will be started, leading to a for flight demonstrations, when deemed Considerable experience in the analysis of necessary to overcome technology these options already exists in Europe. barriers, study critical flight phases and Aside from FESTIP, other studies have assess reusability. been performed in recent years in France A cornerstone of the European launchers (e.g. SYS RLV) and Germany (e.g. strategy is optimum use of available ASTRA) on concepts belonging to these resources. Therefore on the one hand a categories and their results will also be harmonisation of all European activities exploited in the FLPP system activities. for future launchers has been initiated, and The semi-reusable RLV concepts are an Ariane-5 G Ariane-5 ECA Ariane-5 ES Soyuz Vega on the other the FLPP will permit the attractive area for potential cooperation progressive restructuring of the European with Russia, where joint activities on the instance, from the new ESA space to Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELVs). acquiring RLV system-level expertise. industrial landscape in preparation for a analysis of reusable liquid stages will be exploration programme and the Before being able to make a sound choice Before finally deciding on the NGL’s future cost-effective NGL development considered. implementation of European Union policy between an ELV and an RLV for the Next development, there is a need for sufficient and exploitation programme. From the Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) concepts concerning environment, security and Generation Launcher, a number of critical maturity of system and technology start, a number of cooperative activities in LFBB concept (Courtesy of DLR) and air-breathing ascent propulsion defence. reusability-related technologies need to be competencies to assess the associated costs the RLV field have been identified, not systems (e.g. Scramjet) will not be It is essential for Europe to retain its developed and demonstrated, as well as and risks. least with Russia. addressed as they do not meet the autonomous, affordable and competitive thorough trade-off between the ELV and technology-maturity requirements. access to space both now and in the future. System Studies RLV concepts. This important decision The near-term needs are covered by the Industrial Policy There is already a solid base of experience will be largely based on the final mission In-flight Experimentation European launcher workhorse Ariane-5, to and technology in Europe for the design of specification, but will also rely on the For any RLV development effort, in-flight be complemented in the near future by the It was decided at the outset to grant all NGL-related activities within FLPP to an ELVs, which is being exploited to establish results of critical-technology validation Vega small launch vehicle and operation of industrial prime contractor, and EADS and Finmeccanica have therefore created a the system-level capabilities needed to tests. the Russian Soyuz launcher also from new company, provisionally called ‘NGL Prime Co’. assess the risks inherent in developing and FLPP Period-1 is characterised by a Kourou. Looking further ahead, however, operating RLVs. One of the main goals of focused approach, aiming at the selection Europe must already begin to prepare the The industrial work at system and technology level began at the end of 2004, with a the FLPP studies is to assess the of one preferred RLV concept for each of programmatic and technical ground in comprehensive road map of activities that will provide, step by step, the results attractiveness of launcher reusability by two preliminary ‘reference missions’. The order to be able to undertake the needed for the decision on the NGL to be taken at the end of the decade. comparing the economic features of the availability of results from a number of development of an NGL a decade from best RLV options accessible for Europe previous national and European RLV now. The industrial activities in 2005 encompass RLV system concept studies together with the possible ELV solutions on the studies, such as ESA’s Future European Among the various solutions promising with the preparation of on-ground demonstrations for various