Research and Test Infrastructure

Test Bench P5

Efficient and flexible

The P5 test stand has been in use on behalf of the European Space Agency ESA since 1989. The main stage engines for the European launch vehicle Ariane 5 were tested and qualified on the P5 test stand. This includes the modified Vulcain 2.1 engine, which is used in the new Ariane 6 launcher.

It is currently being prepared for the fuel combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane in order to meet the requirements of future launcher systems. A quick switchover between methane and hydrogen is a prerequisite for this.

Video: Test campaign of the Vulcain 2.1 main stage engine on the P5 test bench
The new Vulcain 2.1 engine, which is to launch the new European Ariane 6 launcher into space, is designed to achieve greater efficiency at lower costs. However, before such a launch can be carried out successfully, the development engines must prove that they can cope with the enormous thrust of 130 tons, temperatures of around 3000 degrees Celsius in the combustion chamber, the high speeds of the turbopumps and the pressure in the fuel lines. On January 22, 2018, engineers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) carried out the first successful test of the engine developed by ArianeGroup on the P5 test stand in Lampoldshausen.

Video: Test campaign of the Vulcain 2.1 main stage engine on the P5 test bench

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Video: Test campaign of the Vulcain 2.1 main stage engine on the P5 test bench
The new Vulcain 2.1 engine, which is to launch the new European Ariane 6 launcher into space, is designed to achieve greater efficiency at lower costs. However, before such a launch can be carried out successfully, the development engines must prove that they can cope with the enormous thrust of 130 tons, temperatures of around 3000 degrees Celsius in the combustion chamber, the high speeds of the turbopumps and the pressure in the fuel lines. On January 22, 2018, engineers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) carried out the first successful test of the engine developed by ArianeGroup on the P5 test stand in Lampoldshausen.

Areas of application

    • Low-pressure test bench for testing cryogenic main stage engines under ground conditions

Fuels

 

Liquid hydrogen

Mass flow: 50 kilograms per second

Liquid oxygen

Mass flow: 300 kilograms per second

Liquid methane

Mass flow: 110 kilograms per second

Number of test positions

    • one test postion

Planned test object

Engine

Prometheus

Prometheus is an elementary component of the future European launcher. A combination of liquid oxygen and liquid methane will be used as fuel. By bundling several Prometheus engines in the first stage, sufficient thrust is generated to be able to dispense with the additional solid rockets previously used during launch.

Planning for a possible successor to the Ariane 6 launcher is already underway. A DLR team is now preparing the ESA P5 test stand for its new task. The installation of a methane tank was an important milestone in the extensive construction work. In future, a completely new generation of engines will be tested on the P5: the Prometheus engine developed and manufactured by ArianeGroup.

Qualified engines

Engine

Vulcain

The Vulcain engine was built for the Ariane 5 launcher by the company SNECMA. The engine was tested in 147 tests within 44,040 test seconds on the P5 test stand.

Engine

Vulcain 2

A more powerful engine was required for the larger Ariane 5 ECA and the Vulcain 2 was therefore developed. The engine was tested on the P5 test stand in 160 tests and 72,400 test seconds.

Engine

Vulcain 2.1

ArianeGroup develops and builds the advanced Vulcain 2.1 engine for the main stage of Ariane 6. The engine was tested on the P5 test stand in 24 tests and 13,200 test seconds.

Facts & Figures

Height of the test bench

70 meters

Liquid oxygen tank

200 cubic meters

Liquid hydrogen tank

600 cubic meters

Liquid methane tank

208 cubic meters

Maximum thrust

1.200 kilonewtons

Firing axis

Vertical

The design of the P5 test stand allows the engine to be tested under real conditions: In the upper part of the test stand – at the same height above the engine as in the launcher – there is a tank with liquid oxygen. The tank with liquid hydrogen is located directly next to the test stand building. For safety reasons, both fuel tanks are separated from the test cell by a two-meter-thick partition wall. In the test cell, the engine is installed on a thrust frame in order to be able to absorb the enormous thrust. A guide tube and subsequent jet deflector have the task of slowing down the supersonic exhaust jet of the engine to subsonic and deflecting it into the open. All systems for measurement data acquisition, control and regulation are located in building M8, several hundred meters away. This is also where the P5 control room is located, where all processes are coordinated and monitored by the DLR test team.

Following conversion and expansion, the ESA P5 large-scale test bench is one of the most modern and flexible test facilities of its kind. It makes it possible to switch quickly between the fuel combinations oxygen and hydrogen or oxygen and methane.

Timeline

    • 1990 to 1996: Vulcain development tests for the new European launcher Ariane 5
    • 1996 to 1998: Acceptance campaigns for flight engines
    • 1999 to 2004: Development and acceptance tests on a total of 7 versions of the further developed Vulcain 2 engine
    • By the end of 2016, more than 300 tests had been successfully carried out on a total of 30 Vulcain and Vulcain 2 engines with respective test times ranging from a few seconds to more than 12 minutes.
    • 2018 to 2019: 24 tests with the modified Vulcain 2.1 engine with a total runtime of more than 13,000 seconds as part of Ariane 6 development

Publications

Fact Sheet Test Bench P5

739.9 KB | PDF

Contact

Daniel Auer

Head of Test Facility
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Space Propulsion
Test Facilities
Im Langen Grund, 74239 Hardthausen
Germany