After the successful test campaign performed in 2018, the ISiComp® ceramic matrix composite material has been subjected to a further reusability test campaign in CIRA's Plasma Wind Tunnel Scirocco plant.

The innovative material, resulting from the cooperation between CIRA and Petroceramics, is the basis of the entire thermal protection system (TPS) of the ESA Space Rider vehicle: nose, belly and control surfaces of the vehicle are designed, manufactured and tested by CIRA as part of an important contract signed with Thales Alenia Space, Prime Contractor of the Space Rider Program.

The test campaign, which allowed to extend the operational envelope of the material towards even more extreme temperatures and longer usage time, were carried out by submitting a disc of ISiComp® material to the plasma flow for six cycles, corresponding to the six missions planned over the entire operational life of the Space Rider vehicle.

Reusability, a key factor for the mission success, will allow a substantial cost reduction in view of the future commercialization of a European service of access and re-entry to and from low Earth orbit.

For each of the cycles, the material was subjected to a high enthalpy hypersonic flow with a velocity exceeding 14,000 km/h, capable of generating a surface temperature of about 1500 °C, i.e. 250 °C more than the previous test campaign, for a time of more than 14 minutes. During the two days of testing, the sample was therefore exposed to equivalent re-entry conditions for a total time of almost 90 minutes, an absolute record for this type of test.

The exceptional representativeness of the Scirocco tests, able to accurately reproduce the extreme chemical-physical conditions encountered during re-entry into the atmosphere, is a key element in the qualification process of the Space Rider thermal protection system, allowing a substantial reduction of the technical-programmatic risk associated with the technology itself.

Between the second half of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, four additional Scirocco test campaigns are planned for the TPS developed by CIRA with the aim at verifying critical aspects of the system such as the behavior of the material in the presence of damages induced by micrometeoroids, the test of moving control surfaces and the tests of different tile configurations representative of the protection of the belly of the vehicle.

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