The P160C is a

solid-fuel rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses Rocket propellant#Solid chemical propellants, solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The incepti ...

motor developed for use as the first stage of the

Vega C VegaC, or Vega Consolidation, is a European expendable, small-lift launch vehicle developed and produced by Avio. It is an evolution of the original Vega launcher, designed to offer greater launch performance and flexibility. Approved for de ...

+ mid-life upgrade, the next-generation

Vega E VegaC, or Vega Consolidation, is a European expendable, small-lift launch vehicle developed and produced by Avio. It is an evolution of the original Vega launcher, designed to offer greater launch performance and flexibility. Approved for devel ...

, and as strap-on boosters for the

Ariane 6 Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) and manufactured by a consortium of European companies, led by the prime contractor ArianeGroup. As part of the Ariane rocket family, it is operate ...

Block 2 launch vehicles. It was developed by Europropulsion, a joint venture between

Avio Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites. Avio operate ...

and

ArianeGroup ArianeGroup (formerly Airbus Safran Launchers) is an aerospace company based in France. A joint venture between Airbus and Safran, the company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris. It consists of three core ...

, for the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(ESA). The designation "P160C" reflects key characteristics of the motor: "P" stands for ''poudre'' (French for 'powder'), referencing its solid propellant; "160" denoted the original target of 160 tonnes of propellant (later increased to 167 tonnes); and "C" signifies its ''common'' use across multiple launch systems. The motor was developed largely in response to the increased lift performance requirements of

Project Kuiper Kuiper Systems LLC, commonly known as Project Kuiper, is a subsidiary of Amazon that was established in 2019 to deploy a large satellite internet constellation to provide low- latency broadband connectivity. The name Kuiper was a company coden ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

’s

satellite internet constellation A satellite internet constellation is a constellation of artificial satellites providing satellite internet service. In particular, the term has come to refer to a new generation of very large constellations (sometimes referred to as megacon ...

. Compared to its predecessor, the

P120C The P120C is a solid-fuel rocket motor developed for use as the first stage of the Vega-C launch vehicle and as strap-on boosters for the Ariane 6. It was developed by Europropulsion, a joint venture between Avio and ArianeGroup, for the Europ ...

, the P160C adds an additional of solid propellant and is taller. The motor's casing is constructed as a single-piece carbon-fibre composite shell, making it one of the most powerful monolithic solid rocket motors in production worldwide.

History

In 2022, development began on the P120C+ variant, which evolved into the P160C. This extended version adds to the motor's length and an additional of propellant, translating to an approximate improvement in lift performance on the Ariane 64 with four boosters. This extended version was developed in part to meet the lift performance needs of Amazon's Project Kuiper, a broadband satellite constellation. Of the 18 Ariane 6 launches contracted for Kuiper, 16 are expected to use the P160C, totaling 64 booster units—four per launch. This commercial demand provided the business case for developing the upgraded variant. While the P160C significantly improves performance, Ariane 64 will carry fewer Kuiper satellites per launch than some competing rockets. With the upgraded boosters, it is expected to deliver 35–40 satellites per mission. This compares to 61 aboard

Blue Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own ...

New Glenn New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket is designed to have a Reusable launch vehicle, partially reusable, two-stage design with a diameter of . The first stage is powered ...

, 45 on

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...

’s

Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle consisting of the Vulcan first stage and the Centaur second stage. Replacing ULA's Atlas V and Del ...

, but exceeds the 27 carried by the

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...

, which is being phased out. In June 2024, the first P160C motor case was shipped to the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

Kourou Kourou (; ) is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, in preparation for fueling and static fire tests. On 24 April 2025, ESA conducted the first hot-fire test of the P160C solid-fuel booster using Qualification Model 3 (QM3) on the solid-propellant booster test stand at the Guiana Space Centre, operated by

CNES CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

, the French space agency. The motor fired for over two minutes, delivering a maximum thrust of approximately , and expended its full propellant load under simulated flight conditions. Preliminary data indicated nominal performance with no anomalies observed. A full post-test analysis will support final qualification.

References

{{Rocket engines Rocket stages Solid-fuel rockets

History

See also

References