Ariane 6 helium tank

Enrichment Technology Company helium tank for Europe's Ariane 6 rocket.

Enrichment Technology Company designed, developed, qualified and manufactures the carbon fibre helium tanks for Ariane 6. The tanks are used on both stages of the rocket. Standing just over a metre high and 80 cm in diameter, each tank holds 374 l of helium and can operate at pressures up to 400 times that of Earth’s atmosphere. The unique “Type-IV” design, is a plastic liner wrapped with carbon and weighs much less than traditional metallic tanks.

Unlike the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that fuel the rocket, helium is a non-reactive gas. It is used to pressurise the fuel tanks, pushing the liquid oxygen and hydrogen to the combustion chamber. It’s also used in the Ariane 6 cooling systems.