Future Launchers Preparatory Programme

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations. Space Transportation Ariane Vega Space Rider Future space transportation Boost! Europe's Spaceport Launches from Europe's Spaceport from 2012 This page reflected ESA’s future space transportation policy in 2021 but is not updated. It is kept for historical purposes. ESA safeguards Europe’s guaranteed access to space through its Future Launchers Preparatory Programme, FLPP. Integrated demonstrators are built by combining multiple technologies into one system or subsystem so that industry can use the technology with confidence. FLPP carries out projects in propulsion , materials and processes , reusability , structures and mechanisms , avionics and Guidance Navigation Control (GNC), and future end-to-end systems and missions . Future space transportation services and systems are assessed on their competitiveness and economic viability. ESA’s objective is to develop a robust and flexible Space Transportation ecosystem which serves European needs. To achieve this, ESA brings together its various programmes and business units, Europe’s launch service provider, and industry such as spacecraft manufacturers and innovative start-up companies. Prometheus is Europe’s first ultra-low-cost reusable rocket engine demonstrator fuelled by liquid methane. It will benefit Europe’s new Ariane 6 launcher in the near-term and prepare for a new generation of European launch vehicles in the next decade. Additive layer-by-layer manufacturing of Prometheus enables faster production, with fewer parts. Liquid oxygen–methane propellants are highly efficient and widely available and therefore a good candidate for a reusable engine. ETID , an Expander-cycle Technology Integrated Demonstrator , paves the way for the next generation of cryogenic upper stage engines in Europe in the 10-tonne class. Testing of a full-scale ETID demonstrator proved the latest propulsion technologies. The test results were fully analysed including cross-checks to improve numerical models as well as the full inspection of the tested hardware. Synergy between the Prometheus and ETID projects has yielded game-changing additive manufacturing techniques for combustion chambers that reduce cost and lead time. Berta , a 5kN-thrust class, 3D-printed full-scale engine demonstrator for upper stages has performed tests at DLR Lampholdshausen. It uses ‘storable propellants’, called such because they can be stored as liquids at room temperature. Rocket engines that are powered this way are easy to ignite reliably and repeatedly on missions lasting many months. Continuing on from this project and considering the environmental impact of the currently used storable propellants, investigations are ongoing to prepare tests with identified new environmentally friendly propellant combinations that remain storable but are much less toxic. Further hybrid propulsion demonstrations are on-going following the launch of the Nucleus sounding rocket in Norway, which successfully reached space by attaining a final altitude of over 100 km. Watch the full videos here . FLPP has been validating alternative materials to make rockets lighter. New carbon composite materials are being used to replace aluminium for lighter upper stage structures and fuel tanks, as well as for rocket fairings that protect the payloads on their way to space. New insulation materials and jettison systems for rocket fairings will also offer a smoother quieter ride to space. Closed-cell polyurethane foam material is being sprayed on as external tank insulation for cryogenic upper stages and a new solution for tank bulkheads