The rocket launch company ArianeGroup plans to bring astronauts into space aboard ‘Susie’.
The European rocket launch giant has announced a new upper stage designed to carry out manned or unmanned missions on Arianespace rockets in a land orbit or even the moon.
The upper stage is called the Suzy (Innovative Exploration Intelligent Upper Stage) and will be mounted on an upcoming Ariane 64 rocket, which the company says will herald fully reusable rockets in the coming years.
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Such as outer space Community access to private space stations and lunar missions, ArianeGroup said a flexible, reusable and reusable spacecraft that would suit the needs of many customers. (Arianespace is the ultimate entity under ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran.)
ArianeGroup wrote: “Susie is a fully reusable rocket stage project” In the September 16 issue (Opens in a new tab). “It’s able to go into space and do many different types of missions there – whether it’s robotic or crewed – and back to Earth.”
The manned version of the Susie will carry up to five astronauts with an abort system designed to operate at any time during the mission. Payload capacity can flex as needed for “essential missions in space,” which Ariane Group suggests will continue to increase. NASA And her partners are reaching out to a crew Artemis program Missions on the moon in the next decade.
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After the missions, Susie will return to Earth for a smooth landing and will be reused for future flights, where the spacecraft can be fully reused. Various tasks envisaged include servicing satellites and manufacturing and handling orbital facilities space debris Or send essential items to astronauts on deep space missions.
“This is a project that builds on all the knowledge that exists in the ArianeGroup and in European industry. It is compatible with ongoing or future technological developments in the field of teleportation and reuse,” said Morena Bernardini, Head of Strategy and Innovation at ArianeGroup. In the same statement.
The company has indicated that the Suzy will be able to use several launchers, including the upcoming Ariane 6, which may fly as soon as 2023. The Suzy is designed to be 60 feet (12 meters) long, along with 15 feet (five ). -meter) can fit Ariane 6 launcher.
Furthermore, going forward, Suzy fits into the ESA’s vision of modular and reusable launchers under the New European Space Transport Solutions (NESTS) initiative, which seeks to build launchers around common building blocks to save cost and development.
Depending on mission needs, ArianeGroup said future missions will fly to space hubs and then to their destination, rather than pointing directly at a point.
Suzy has been revealed in International Astronautical Congress in Paris, which runs until Thursday (September 22).
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