ACTIVE HEATSHIELD TECHNOLOGIES FOR REUSABLE LAUNCHERS AND RE-ENTRY VEHICLES - EXPRO+

Objective:To perform preliminary (sub)-system design and breadboarding of active heatshield technologies for re-usable launcher stages (re)-entry vehicles, and evaluate the scalability for different mission profiles.Description:(Re)-entry will be a crucial aspect of many future missions. Additionally, with the introduction of reusablelaunchers and their need to survive re-entry, highlyefficient heatshield and thermal protection systemtechnologies will become ever more necessary to achieve the required performanceimprovements and cost reductions.Traditionally, rigid heatshields (e.g. ablative materials) often pose limitations in terms of re-usability, as theytypically require high maintenance between missions, or even need to be fully replaced. These systemstypically cannot easily be tailored to different (re)-entry conditions of different mission profiles, leading toperformance losses.Active, controllable heatshield technologies (e.g. liquid film cooling, transpiration cooling, magnetic shielding)potentially offer various advantages for (re)-entry vehicles, and in particular re-usable systems. Their scalability to different mission profiles and potential synergies with the vehicle's propulsion system can lead to significant vehicle mass reductions, and thus performance increases. Lower material degradation allows vehicle re-use with minimal refurbishment and shortens turnaround time and cost. Active heatshield technologies can be used as an augmentation to traditional thermal protection tiles (e.g. local application) or as a fully self-standing solution.This activity encompasses the following tasks:- System study on the aerodynamic and aerothermal requirements of re-usable launcher stages, as well asexploration vehicles for relevant future ESA mission scenarios- Evaluation of different, applicable heatshield concepts (e.g. liquid film cooling, transpiration cooling, magneticshielding, with or without additional reusable heatshield tiles), allowing for maximum rapid vehicle reusability(minimum maintenance between missions), as well as system scalability for different missions and (re)-entryprofiles and relevance applicability for future ESA missions.- Down selection of one (or more) baseline mission vehicles and preliminary design of its active heatshieldconcept.- Breadboard testing of selected concept (e.g. plasma wind tunnel testing)Deliverables: Breadboard, Report