Original subtitles

(rocket engine roaring)

- [Narrator] It won't be long now before you too

can enjoy a view like this.

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Economy or business class?

There will be a variety of choices of carrier and cabin.

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The view will be spectacular.

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(light music)

This is the traditional way to orbit,

A Russian Soyuz launched from Kazakhstan.

Nassau has to pay in the area

of 70 million dollars per seat return trip

and prices are about to go up.

Only the Chinese have an alternative launch system.

Very shortly there will be two carriers

taking tourists into space on sub-orbital flights.

Blue Origin will probably launch first

with their capsule and reusable launcher.

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Next will be Virgin Galactic

and their suborbital space plane,

launched from beneath a carrier aircraft

and landing like one too.

Although, to what altitude is still not known.

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Then, you have America's return to space

with it's two commercial partners.

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Boeing have their CST Starliner,

the first launch capable capsule

already off the assembly line.

Looking every bit like an Apollo spacecraft,

it will be able to ferry crew to and from the ISS.

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An unmanned test launch to the Space Station is eminent.

And the crew has been picked to undertake

the first few missions.

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Their stand out competitor's our Space Eggs

and their manned Dragon capsule,

performing the same vital service.

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Their hedging their bets in the tourist sector as well,

with their BFR concept naming their first paying customer.

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(applauding, hooting)

- Thank you all.

Thank you everyone.

(continued applause)

Wow, I am from Japan.

My name is Yusaku Maezawa.

You can call me MZ, please.

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(rocket engine roaring)

- [Narrator] After the success

of the Falcon Heavy maiden launch

Space X is ramping up design and construction

of it's even larger rocket ship to Mars.

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However, the two other commercial entities

aren't resting on their launchers either.

Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin has developed

its BE4 engine to power an orbital delivery system.

And they have the U.S. Air Force on board.

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Not to be left out of the market,

Virgin has also developed a small pay load orbital system,

Virgin Orbit with its Launcher One.

(truck engine idling)

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Flown to thirty five thousand feet

slung beneath Cosmic Girl, a Virgin 747,

the two stage rocket can

lift up to 500 kilograms into orbit,

at an inclination of 120 degrees.

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Dream Chaser is still in the running

with a pilotless shuttle still under development

for long duration orbits.

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The late Microsoft founder,

Paul Allen's company, Stratolaunch,

has unveiled the largest aircraft in the world.

A scaled up air born launch platform

with multiple payloads from the existing Pegasis Rocket,

to a medium and heavy launch vehicle,

and their re-usable Space Plane in the future.

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In the meantime, there is no shortage

of conventional launch systems

competing for their share of the market,

from the USA, Europe, China, India, Japan,

even Israel and New Zealand.

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The key to any launch system is, of course, the engine.

The smaller, lighter and more powerful the better.

They pose many design problems,

fuel type, re-ignitable, chamber pressure limits,

sea level or vacuum exhaust, nozzle shape.

But above all, the liability and cost.

This is the Avio Rocket factory in Colleferro, Italy.

Here engineers are developing the carbon fiber casing

for the solid propellant rocket stages of ESA's

new Vega-C launcher.

To build them, 5000 kilometers of carbon fiber

impregnated with epoxy resin is wound around

a pre-made metal mandrel.

This produces the very light weight,

but sturdy casings for the first, second and third stages

of the Vega launcher.

These casings are later fitted with an engine

and loaded with solvent propellant.

One of these solid propulsion engines is the P120C.

It was recently successfully tested in (mumbles)

and is the largest and most powerful

monolithic solid propulsion rocket ever built.

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With this new rocket, ESA hopes to respond

to launcher market demands.

The agency is also looking for value for money.

This new engine is designed

with the latest immersive technology

and leading edge materials and processes.

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Mass production will bring down the unit cost,

but the design is for both Vega-C

and the strap on boosters for Arion 6.

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- So certainly in the launcher sector

the competition is growing world wide.

But we believe that the European answer,

the ESA answer with Vega-C and Arion 6, is the right answer.

In an aggressive manner we are trying to make things

more and more competitive.

One of these examples is the joint solid rocket motor

that we are developing across the two programs,

the Vega-C and the Arion 6.

The P120C solid rocket motor,

that enables the possibility to harmonize resources

and to have the same motor serving the Vega-C

as a first stage, as well as the Arion 6,

in both configuration as a strap on boosters.

So, this is a very good answer

to tackle the competitiveness aspect.

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- [Narrator] With Vega-C, the c stands for consilidation,

ESA is further developing Vega.

It will add increased performance

to the flexibility of the current system

without increasing the cost.

Today Vega can launch up to 1.5 tons

on a 700 kilometer orbit.

With Vega-C it will go up to 2.3 tons.

(rocket engine roaring)

In order to increase performance

two new solid propulsion engines have been developed.

The B120C and the Zefiro 40 for the second stage.

(somber music)

- It is clear that whatever we develop

has an exploitation objective.

So we do not develop rockets just for the fun of it.

But, we develop rockets that need to be exploitable,

therefore, competitive in the world wide market.

And that's the way we're working hand and hand

with industry to prepare them

to walk on their legs in the future

throughout the exploitation phase.

- [Narrator] Two other enhancements are made

with AVUM+ which is derived

from the current VEGA's AVUM upper stage.

Investing in new rocket motors also means

investing in new launch facilities.

- We have foreseen a lot of activities

to modify the launch site from the VEGA configuration

to the VEGA-C configuration.

The VEGA-C is a heavy loader and length launcher

with respect to the VEGA-1.

So, for this reason, we have to modify

the actions to the stages increasing the diameter

for what concerns the first stage.

- [Narrator] Other changes include modified fluid services

and installation of a more powerful crane

needed to lift the heavier second stage of VEGA-C.

During these modifications,

the site has to remain operational

for the scheduled VEGA launches.

In the end, the launch site will be compatible

with both launchers.

With VEGA-C , ESA is also working on related products

such as the Space Rider,

based on ESA's experimental re-entry vehicle, IXV.

It should allow for payloads to be sent into orbit

and later returned to Earth.

- In addition to this, we have other products like

a specific adaptor for launching into orbit

a small spacecraft, so enabling the possibility

of universities and research centers to access space

at limited cost, so coping with the payloads

which go from one kilogram up to 500 kilograms.

We also have early elements of definition

of a platform called VENUS,

which could allow payloads to transfer from orbit to orbit.

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- [Narrator] One unit which has been around for years

and is still the Ferrari of rocket motors

is the Space Shuttle main engine.

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Four of them will be mounted

on the long awaited space launch system.

Reusing proven shuttle technology has saved time and money.

The solid rocket boosters have been extended and tested.

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The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS25 motors

continue to roll off the assembly line.

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Fabrication of the immense components,

cryogenic tanks, (mumbles) tanks and fairings continues.

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The Orion capsule has flown once.

The second flight ready capsule is being prepared

for the grand show.

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There is one more critical piece of care required.

Perhaps one of the most important sections

for keeping the astronauts alive, the Service Module.

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At Airbus in Europe, they have delivered

the first flight ready unit for the launch.

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The European component will house the electrical power,

life support and propulsion unit for the Orion spacecraft.

And, like a giant pocket watch, every component

is carefully and painstakingly assembled.

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- The European service module is part of

an entire spacecraft built by an American company,

Lockheed Martin, under the contract of NASA .

And we're part of that spacecraft,

NASA Lockheed Martin is building.

We're providing the European Service Module.

We're providing the powerhouse of that entire spacecraft.

That means we are providing the propulsion system,

so the thrust, to get into the dedicated orbit

we would like to fly with the spacecraft.

We're providing the air condition, I'm saying,

that's the thermal control system of the entire spacecraft.

We take care of the heat, which has been generated

in the capsule, which has been generated

out of several ectonic components

in the European Service Module as well.

And we are making sure that that heat

get radiated into the outside of that spacecraft.

On top of this we are generating power.

Our solar (mumbles) wings are producing that power.

We are conditioning that power.

And deliver that to the cool module

and deliver that to the batteries

which are located inside the (mumbles).

(rocket engine roaring)

And finally, we are also providing

what the astronaut need to have to live in that spacecraft.

That's mainly water, in terms of for the consumables,

and that's oxygen and nitrogen to generate the atmosphere,

in the crew module itself.

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On the power side we're proud that we have installed

hardware which has already been flown

several years ago on a shuttle.

So the big engine we are flying here, the (mumbles),

was a challenge for us to bring that into the vehicle.

It is not new technology, in that sense,

but the integration itself, that was really for us

a challenge for us that was new.

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(conversation)

We're preparing ourselves to be ready

for the final integration with the rest of the vehicle.

And then we're ready for test campaign in the US,

which is including several environmental tests,

several functional tests.

The last couple of months, up to that point

where the NASA team is handing over the spacecraft

to GSDO, to the launch campaign,

so that the vehicle can be put onto the launcher

and then we are ready for flight.

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- The first engine is the big engine

which is coming from the Space Shuttle.

With this big engine we perform the big transition,

(mumbles), to go to the Moon or to go back to the Earth.

So we can see here the auxiliary thruster, which are red.

We have eight of them, coming from (mumbles).

Here we have the (mumbles), so the main engine.

But without the (mumbles), which would be integrated

in one of the latest integration step.

We can see here the propellant tanks.

We have four of them.

Two for each propellant.

- ATV basically, the automated transport vehicle

here in Europe played a role, a significant role

in terms of opening the door for that specific

joined work on that spacecraft.

It also played a role that we learned our lessons

with kind of that Service Module.

Finally the components we have flown on ATV,

their not so many which we carry on

in the Orion European Service Module.

We have a couple of them,

mainly auxiliary thrusters.

Yes, on the RCS thrusters,

and also a couple of tanks like our (mumbles) tanks,

but there are just a few items

which we carry on from ATV

into the European Service Module design.

- The difficulty here for the human space flight

is the change of mindset.

So to think that we are here in this space mission,

we are flying human and it's not like

a rocket, which is only flying with a satellite.

Therefore, we are putting more effort on the safety aspect.

We have a lot of redundancy.

Each change we introduce the smallest change

we introduce in our system, has to go to Safety Boards.

Our Safety Board is a safety board and then

the program Safety Board, to be sure that

we can bring the crew back home safe.

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(rocket engine roaring)

- [Narrator] With Orion and the service module certified

this sky won't be the limit.

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We will see ships refueling in orbit,

a gateway station with a return to the moon,

then onto Mars and beyond.

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Opening space to industry and exploration,

space flight will become the norm,

rather than the exception.

Mining and manufacturing in orbit,

power production and habitats.

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One day it might be as easy as driving to work

in that red convertible of yours.

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