Air Liquide is advancing space exploration, having signed a contract with space propulsion expert Avio for the design of the new generation of cryogenic tanks for the upper stage of the future Vega-E launcher. The project is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the launcher will use cryogenic tanks filled with a mixture of oxygen stored at -182° C and methane stored at -161° C to act as propellant for the oxygen-methane engine. 

Earlier this year, Avio successfully carried out the first test of its new M10 liquid oxygen-liquid/methane engine, which will be used to power the launcher.  A key part of the new launcher’s development, the engine will provide ten tonnes of thrust and is manufactured with extensive use of additive layer manufacturing technologies. Building upon its predecessor, Vega C, the new iteration will have a three-stage configuration.

Air Liquide’s involvement will see the Group harnessing its existing experience in designing launch infrastructures, on-board cryogenics for satellites and ground test equipment for launchers and satellites. The Group has also been involved in the testing of oxygen-methane propellants at its Campus Technologies test facilities in Grenoble, France for the past several years. Scheduled to enter service in 2026, the Vega-E launchers will launch medium class satellites in low-Earth-orbit (LEO) from the Kourou base in French Guiana.

Source: GasWorld

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