Speaker
Description
Today the application of Eco-Design can benefit business, users and society at the same time because it responds to a common interest in obtaining more efficient products in term of both, economic and environmental perspective.
Enhancing the current efforts made by the European space sector dealing with Ecodesign, ArianeGroup is carrying a Life Cycle Analysis of the future European launcher Ariane 6. Since the Launcher System is currently in the design phase, the goal of this study is to evaluate and to anticipate the environmental impact in exploitation phase adopting a proactive approach. With the aim of determining the environmental contribution of the Ariane 6 Launcher System, the major hotspots are identified for a set of relevant environmental indicators.
The scope of the study covers the overall exploitation phase of the A6 Launcher System, including production & assembly, launch campaign/ground operations and launch campaign/flight event. This work focuses on “1 launch of Ariane 64 version” defined as the reference flow. Considering the payload mass put into orbit, a capacity similar to A5 ECA is assumed.
This study is a first attempt for ArianeGroup to assess the overall life cycle of the A6 launcher. Applied methodology, main assumptions, preliminary environmental indicators evaluation as well as conclusions regarding the comparison between A5 ECA and A64 will be presented. A second iteration considering final Launcher System definition and industrial set-up will be completed for the Ariane 6 first flight.
In this way, ArianeGroup is committed to the ESA Clean Space Initiative and contributes to the big challenge for space industry: keeping a competitive advantage for Europe and minimizing the environmental footprint on Earth and Space.
