ARIEL thruster firing
Arkadia test bench for testing their ARIEL thruster. Three ARIEL thrusters on display. Spanish company Arkadia is developing a thruster called ARIEL (Attitude for Reusable and Innovative European Launchers). Arkadia built a test bench inhouse to withstand the thrust and long burns over repeated cycles needed to thoroughly test ARIEL.
Many satellites and rockets have two types of engines, one for moving large distances and one for controlling their orientation, or attitude. This thruster has been developed to be part of a reliable and affordable Reaction Control System that adjusts orientation of space transportation vehicles.
ARIEL uses hydrogen peroxide as fuel which is more sustainable and less toxic than the hydrazine commonly used in most reaction control systems. It is one of the first hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thrusters of this size in Europe. Providing thrust of up to 250 N, it could suspend a 25 kg sack of cement on Earth, more than enough to orient a spacecraft or steer a rocket.
The European Space Agency (ESA) Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) prepares European industry for the future space ecosystem, supporting companies with promising technology for the future. The first test firing was done just seven months after signing the initial contract in June 2023. The engine has now passed an extensive test campaign at the Arkadia Space Test Center in the Castellón airport, Spain, reaching technology readiness level six within two years from the contract signature.
The project includes tank prototypes that feed the ARIEL thrusters with its propellant, even operating in efficient ‘blowdown mode’ whereby the hydrogen peroxide gases in the tank push the liquid fuel to the engine.
Throughout the campaign ARIEL proved itself by performing:
- over 178 seconds of specific impulse in vacuum
- continued steady firing up to 5 minutes
- firing in short pulses of just 40 milliseconds
- over 2000 pulses in total per engine
- over 100 kg of hydrogen peroxide fired per engine
