Payload Fairings Contract for Ariane 6 Goes to Beyond Gravity
A contract to provide payload fairings for the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle has been awarded to Beyond Gravity. Just recently, the company, which has produced the payload fairings for all missions since Ariane's first flight in 1979, successfully delivered the last structures from Emmen (Switzerland) for its predecessor, Ariane 5.
"Our payload fairings stand as a formidable structure today, but we're not stopping there."
Paul Horstink, Beyond Gravity
The two variants of the Beyond Gravity Payload Fairings offer two different sizes and consist of two half-shells that separate once they reach orbit. Accounting for one third of a launch vehicle’s total length and rising to the height of a six-story building, the 20 meters (≈66 feet) high larger variant (A64) safeguards the valuable cargo on its voyage to space. The smaller version is 14 meters (≈46 feet) high. Both versions have a 5.4-meter (≈18 foot) diameter, ensuring ample room for a variety of payloads. Thanks to the advanced carbon fiber composite design, the structure weighs only 1.8 to 2.6 tons and is therefore featherweight and stable at the same time.
“Rooted in a legacy of incremental innovation, our payload fairings are a testament to the strength, efficiency, and progressive ingenuity we continue to nurture at Beyond Gravity,” states Paul Horstink, Executive VP. "Our payload fairings stand as a formidable structure today, but we're not stopping there. Especially with the commercial market in mind, we are driving future innovations, such as further shortening lead times or exploring possibilities in reusability to redefine the boundaries of space exploration," said Paul Horstink.
State-Of-The-Art Payload Fairings, Cost-Efficient Production Process
In technical terminology, the rocket tops are called "payload fairings". Their main task is to protect the satellites from high temperatures, solar radiation, dust, moisture or rain at the launch site before launch. In the first minutes of flight, it is primarily the noise, the enormous frictional heat and the mechanical stresses from which the payload fairings reliably protect the satellites encapsulated beneath them. In a semi-automated process, Beyond Gravity manufactures each half-shell in one piece from carbon fiber composite material that is "cured" in an industrial oven without the use of an autoclave. This reduces costs and speeds up production.
Ariane 6, a program of the European Space Agency (ESA), is a family of launchers designed to offer maximum flexibility to customers in the institutional and commercial markets. Due to its large volume under the payload fairing, Ariane 6 can perform classic single or dual launches as well as complex missions that meet new market requirements, such as launching satellites with electric propulsion or multiple launches of constellation satellites. The launcher will be available in two versions, depending on the mission: The Ariane 64 with four boosters can carry more than 12 tons into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) with a dual launch. The Ariane 62 with two boosters can carry more than 4.5 tons of payload into GTO or seven tons into SSO.
(Source: Beyond Gravity news release. Images provided)