System Aspects of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Propulsion and Reboost Subsystem

Abstract

In spring of 2007, the largest and most complex spacecraft ever developed in Europe, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), will be launched by ARINE 5 for the first time, to support the continuous operation of the International Space Station (ISS) with logistics re-supply.The Propulsion and Reboost Subsystem (PRSS) represent one of the main ATV functions providing the vehicle with the orbit transfer capability and serving for the ISS propulsive support by means of four main engines, while twenty-eight thrusters located at the lower and upper part of the vehicle provide attitude control during flight and ISS approach/docking phases.The ability of the spacecraft to be flexible in its mission characteristics has finally led to a PRSS design with a high level of complexity with respect to a high number of components caused by failure tolerant design.The paper describes the characteristics of the PRSS architecture and performance with particular emphasis to its functionality embedded into the overall ATV system. Particular capabilities within the various mission phases are described as well as associated constraints and its interface to the ATV system and ground segment. Downloaded by AUBURN UNIVERSITY on June 21, 2016 | http://arc.aiaa.org |

Visualization of Coolant Liquid Film Dynamics in Hypergolic Bipropellant Thruster

“…Combinations of hypergolic fuel and oxidizer, such as hydrazine or monomethylhydrazine (MMH) for fuel and a mixture of nitrogen tetroxide with approximately 3% nitric oxide (MON3) for oxidizer, eliminate complex ignition systems. In the recent and future cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station [3][4][5][6] and in planetary exploration missions for descent and ascent modules [7][8][9], the bipropellant thrusters keep playing an essential role. The bipropellant thrusters use a combustion chamber generally made of ceramic [10] or high-temperature heat-resistant metal, such as niobium alloy [11,12] or one of the precious metals [13,14].…”