Speaker
Description
As one of the most promising end-of-life disposal solutions, solid propulsion for direct deorbitation is under development in Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation and polish partners for ESA. The presented work is split into two activities, one describing a Solid Rocket Motor Engineering Model Development and second concerning a dedicated Thrust Vector Control System concept. Both projects are in an advanced stage and an annual update is provided in this presentation.
The motor’s manufacturing phase status, materials verification and subsystems tests results are described. This allows to present the technological challenges that result from development of high ΔV and low acceleration solid propulsion system. Proposed solutions are to be verified in a full scale Engineering Model on-ground test campaign under preparation.
The thrust vector control system, based on an outside flap system, had been tested in the vacuum chamber. Within the presentation development of test facility, dedicated installation and cold-gas test results will be discussed. Performance of the testing model will be validated, simulations compared to results and development plan will be discussed.
Combined projects have a great potential in terms of providing a simple and reliable solution for direct deorbitation and therefore cleaner space environment. The continuous effort of IoA and its partners prove that those initiatives show great performance during testing on the ground.
