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\t\t\t\t\t\t06\/06\/2024<\/span> Europe\u2019s newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6\u2019s first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher. Read on for all about SpaceCase SC-X01, then see who else is flying first.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n On the multitude of missions on the first Ariane 6 flight, two have a totally different objective than the satellites being launched: crash back on Earth and splashdown far from land in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n SpaceCase SC-X01 is built by ArianeGroup, the same company behind the Ariane 6 rocket that will launch it into space. Staying attached to the rocket\u2019s upper stage for the most part of its three-hour mission, SpaceCase will detach just minutes before the upper stage deorbits and head for a fiery controlled destruction in Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n Whereas the upper stage is designed to burn up harmlessly, SpaceCase SC-X01 is going to show off the opposite side of human engineering: survive the intense heat that builds up as spacecraft return to Earth at speeds of 28 000 km\/h.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Most spacecraft designed to return to Earth use ablative materials \u2013 as the outer layer heats up it will burn off and be whisked away, taking the heat build-up away with it, and on to the next layer until splashdown.<\/p>\n SpaceCase SCX-01 uses the same principle but its unique selling point is that its heat-protective shield — made of carbon resin called NAXECO\u00ae resin \u2013 is also<\/i> the structure. Whereas most spacecraft heat shields are glued or bolted on to the spacecraft structure, often in tiles, SpaceCase SCX-01\u2019s monolithic heatshield is the structure of the capsule itself. This has many benefits from weight to simplicity and cost.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A few minutes after detaching from the Ariane 6 upper stage, SpaceCase will already start to feel the heat with temperatures outside reaching 2400\u00b0C, the designers aim to keep the temperatures inside below 60 degrees for the avionics\u2026 or samples in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us actually it won\u2019t be hot enough,\u201d says J\u00e9r\u00f4me Bertrand, ArianeGroup project lead for SpaceCase and planetary landing expert, \u201cour material can handle more such as Mars or Moon return with re-entry speeds greater than 40\u00a0000 km\/h, but for an Earth reentry this is as high as we can expect the temperatures to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n To keep costs and production time low, SpaceCase is simple by design. The innovations in this demonstrator include the shape of the capsule that could be used for a sample return from space or another planet \u2013 it will orient itself with the heatshield pointing down due to its aerodynamic shape to prove the design and test the material.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Coming in fast at 28 000 km\/h, SpaceCase will quickly reach terminal velocity \u2013 the fastest objects can fall \u2013 and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean far from any inhabitation at 250 km\/h \u2013 roughly the same speed a passenger jet needs to take off.<\/p>\n Inside SpaceCase SC-X01, avionics will be recording heatshield temperatures and trajectory data and send it to the project team via satellite. There are no parachutes on and no intention to recover the hardware \u2013 that will be for a second mission. The team plans to use plug-and-play standard dimension CubeSats inside the vehicle on next tests in the future.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThe \u201cDo Not Open – Property of ArianeGroup\u201d written on SC-X01 is just in case it washes up on shore. We wanted to keep this project small, for a rapid, quick turnaround,\u201d says J\u00e9r\u00f4me, \u201cfor this project the learning process to get SpaceCase built quickly was as important as the data we will get, we are a lot like YPSat in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very motivating for teams to work on these types of projects,\u201d concludes J\u00e9r\u00f4me, \u201cby building SpaceCase SC-X01we have already given scientists ideas, just recently after a conference somebody came to me and said they would like to use SpaceCase to install a mass spectrometer inside our capsule to do some science when performing an atmospheric entry on Jupiter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nStructural heat resistant carbon-resin.<\/h2>\n
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