Astrium to develop re-ignitable engines for ESA

The two-year contract will see Astrium working on cryogenic engines (fuelled by liquid hydrogen and oxygen) for the upper stages of rocket launches.

The project, entitled Cryogenic Upper Stage Technologies (CUST), will focus on fuel management under zero gravity and the thermal insulation of the cryogenic fuel tanks.

‘It will be a huge challenge to develop the technologies needed to supply fuel to the engine after a period of weightlessness, but they are a vital necessity if we want to make more powerful and flexible launch vehicles,’ said Thomas Renk, head of the CUST project at Astrium.

One of the main challenges for Astrium is keeping the hydrogen and oxygen fuel in a liquid state while in zero gravity, which requires temperatures of -253ºC and -183ºC respectively.

Solar radiation causes space temperatures to fluctuate, so the company will need to develop insulation for the tanks and the rocket upper stages to prevent the fuel from evaporating.