Themis programme

The Themis programme is a European Space Agency programme, that is taking the first steps towards a European government-funded in-flight demonstration of a prototype reusable rocket first stage. The prototype rocket will also be called Themis, with flights slated to begin as early as 2023.

Themis is expected to provide valuable information on the economic value of reusability for the European government space program and develop technologies for potential use on future European launch vehicles.[1]

Themis will be powered by the ESA's Prometheus rocket engine.[1]

Two possible landing sites:

  • ‘Diamant zone’, used for experimental demonstrations
  • Ariane 5 launch complex, which will become available after the transition from the Ariane 5 to the next-generation Ariane 6

Estimated program timeline, as of December 2020:[2]

  1. 2020 Basic stage test
  2. 2021 Engine test
  3. 2022 Hop test
  4. 2023 Initial flight test
  5. 2023-2024 Loop test
  6. 2025 Full flight envelope test

Suborbital flight tests are slated to begin as early as 2023 at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

History
  • On 15 December, ESA signed a contract worth €33 million with prime contractor ArianeGroup in France for the ‘Themis Initial Phase’. This first phase of the Themis involves development of the flight vehicle technologies, and test bench and staic fire demonstrations at Vernon in France. It also includes the preparation of the ground segment at the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden, for the first ‘hop’ tests and any associated flight vehicle modifications.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Prometheus to power future launchers". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  2. Payer, Markus (2020-11-30). "ArianeWorks on European reusable rocket prototype Themis". SpaceWatch.Global. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  3. "ESA plans demonstration of a reusable rocket stage". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.