The Themis programme is a

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

programme, that is taking the first steps towards a European government-funded demonstration flights of a prototype reusable rocket first stage. The prototype rocket will also be called Themis, with flights slated to begin as early as 2023.

Context

Themis is expected to provide valuable information on the economic value of reusability for the European government space program and develop technologies for potential use on future European launch vehicles. Themis will be powered by the ESA's

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

rocket engine. Two possible landing sites have been mentioned in discussions surrounding the project: * The former

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a ke ...

launch complex, which will be used for the flight testing phase; * The Ariane 5 launch complex, which will become available after the transition from the

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads in ...

to the next-generation

Ariane 6 Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system currently under development since the early 2010s by ArianeGroup on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is intended to replace the Ariane 5, as part of the Ariane launch vehicle famil ...

. The estimated program timeline, , is as follows: * 2020: Basic stage testing, composed of tank filling and

ground support equipment File:Qatar Airways Airbus A380-800 at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 before Flying to Doha, 6 Jan 2015.jpg, Qatar Airways Airbus A380-800 on apron outside Heathrow Terminal 4 with a wide range of ground handling equipment around such as aircraft co ...

tests. * 2021: Prometheus engine testing * 2022: Low-altitude hop tests (short flights up from and down to the launch site) * 2023: Initial

flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

* 2023–2024: Loop tests (repeated flights of the reusable demonstration vehicle) * 2025: Full

flight envelope In aerodynamics, the flight envelope, service envelope, or performance envelope of an aircraft or spacecraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed and load factor or atmospheric density, often simplified to altitude. The t ...

test Suborbital flight tests are slated to begin as early as 2023 at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou,

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. Eventually, lessons learned with Themis' development will pave the way for developing the European reusable launcher

Ariane Next Ariane Next—also known as SALTO (reuSable strAtegic space Launcher Technologies & Operations—is the code name for a future European Space Agency rocket being developed in the 2020s by ArianeGroup. This partially reusable launcher is planned ...

, which should first fly in the 2030s.

History

* On 15 December 2020, ESA signed a contract worth €33 million with prime contractor

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. It consists of three core arms: aero ...

in France for the ‘Themis Initial Phase’. This first phase of the Themis involves development of the flight vehicle technologies, and test bench and

static fire Launch vehicle system tests assess the readiness of a launch system to safely reach orbit. Launch vehicles undergo system tests before they launch. A wet dress rehearsal (WDR) and a more extensive static fire tests a fully assembled launch vehicl ...

demonstrations at Vernon in France. It also includes the preparation of the ground segment at the

Esrange Space Center Esrange Space Center (short form Esrange) is a rocket range and research centre located about 40 kilometers east of the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high-altitude balloons, investigation of the a ...

Kiruna (; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The city was ori ...

, Sweden, for the first hop tests and any associated flight vehicle modifications.

References

External links

ESA Themis website
{{Portal bar, Spaceflight Space programs European space programmes Spaceflight technology Reusable launch systems Partially reusable space launch vehicles Space launch vehicles of Europe

Context

History

See also

References

External links