At the cosmodrome in Kura (French Guiana) a successful fire test of the qualification sample of the P160C solid-propellant rocket engine took place. This became an important stage in the development of future upgrades of the European Ariane launch vehicles 6 ta Vega.
The P160C is an improved version of the P120C engine, jointly developed by ArianeGroup and Avio. It is one of the world's largest solid propellant rocket engines with a one-piece carbon fiber construction. The development program is funded by the European Space Agency.
The new engine is one meter longer than the P120C and accommodates more 14 tons more solid fuel, which will significantly increase productivity, payload capacity and competitiveness of Ariane rockets 6 ta Vega.
The main components of the P160C are the composite body from Avio, composite nozzle from ArianeGroup, which ensures the release of gases with a temperature of 3000°C, and carbon fiber initiator from Nammo.
This qualification test of the P160C took place only four years after the qualification of the P120C engine, which is currently used on Ariane rockets 6 та Vega-C.