Zefrio 23 second stage solid test nominalOn Thursday, a static test of the second stage motor for Vega - ESA's new two stage launcher - was successfully completed at the Salto Di Quirra Inter-force Test Range in Sardinia.
Ignition of the "qualification model" of the solid-propellant rocket motor occurred at 12:15 UT.
ESA reported, "in just 14 seconds, the thrust reached the equivalent to nearly 95 tonnes of force."
This was the second and final firing test for the Zefiro 23, in which over 24 tonnes of propellant was consumed with a flame temperature of over 3000 K. The burn lasted approximately 75 seconds and initial results show the test to be a success.
The combustion chamber pressure and motor thrust were well within the test prediction. Large amplitude movements of the thrust vector control system were executed - simulating worst-case manoeuvres - and the performance was very satisfactory. Additionally, modifications implemented in the nozzle design following the anomaly experienced during the previous Zefiro 9 test were proven to be effective.
"The success of this test demonstrates the soundness of the design and rewards the enormous efforts of the team that has worked on the project," stated Francesco Betti, Head of the Design Department at Avio's Space Division.
The motor will now be transported back to Avio's facility at Colleferro for a thorough inspection of all its components and the data obtained from the 400 sensors deployed during the test will be analysed in more detail.
"The project team will rendezvous at Salto Di Quirra in June for the Zefiro 9 firing test," announced Paolo Bellomi, Technical Director of ELV, the Vega launcher prime contractor.
In the past 27 months, four Vega test firings have taken place at Salto Di Quirra, each one a milestone in the development of the Vega launcher. The Zefiro 23 is the second Vega solid rocket motor to achieve qualification, following the P80 first stage motor, which completed qualification testing in December 2007.
Of course, the Vega small launcher, utilizing upper stage solids for the first time, was expected to be in service, launching from Kourou by this time. Nevertheless, ESA continues, as do European aircraft concerns in full competition with Boeing.
And with Vega launching from Kourou, eventually in competition with SeaLaunch and other equatorial and high inclination launch systems - including those of American private launch companies, aided and unaided by NASA, and Russia as well.
Boeing's victories with 787 commercial Dreamliner sales, preferred over that of the bulky A380 Airbus (and its recent loss of the next generation of military tankers to the same European Union subsidies), when included in with Astrium's determination to build a competitive space plane, should be warning enough that the regulatory protections, backed by nations, will inevitable shape free access to space by American entrepreneurs.
And with Vega launching from Kourou, eventually in competition with SeaLaunch and other equatorial and high inclination launch systems - including those of American private launch companies, aided and unaided by NASA, and Russia as well.
Boeing's victories with 787 commercial Dreamliner sales, preferred over that of the bulky A380 Airbus (and its recent loss of the next generation of military tankers to the same European Union subsidies), when included in with Astrium's determination to build a competitive space plane, should be warning enough that the regulatory protections, backed by nations, will inevitable shape free access to space by American entrepreneurs.
ESA's Vega information HERE.
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