Kräftiger Schub für die Ariane 5: Vom Raumfahrtzentrum Guyana startete am 30. Juli 2021 zum 110. Mal eine Ariane 5 ins All. Die Rakete war mit Teilen von GF Casting Solutions ausgerüstet.
Heading out to space with precision casting parts from GF
GF Casting Solutions produces complex precision casting parts for one of the most powerful rockets in the world. This makes GF an important player in the small, yet exclusive space market.
Satellites orbit the earth once every 24 hours at an altitude of 36 kilometers. They perform a wide range of tasks, such as transmitting data for vehicles, weather information, and TV signals. “More and more communications and networks are being mapped via satellites,” says Patrick Costantini, Key Account Manager for the northern European market at GF Casting Solutions in Novazzano (Switzerland). Since this requires an increasing number of satellites, the space industry is also growing. New and smaller companies are gaining a foothold in the market, in addition to major players such as the United Launch Alliance from the US or the European company Arianespace SA. An average of around five new space start-ups have been created each year over the past 20 years. Tesla founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are two examples. In the coming years, the companies are planning to send 10’000 satellites into space. More than 4’000 satellites are already circling the Earth today. Launch vehicles such as Ariane 5 take them to their destination within the Earth’s orbit. Solid components are needed for the powerful thrust at liftoff – and these are supplied by GF Casting Solutions.
Patrick Costantini
Position: Key Account Manager for Northern Europe
Division: GF Casting Solutions
Location: Novazzano (Switzerland)
Joined GF in: November 2018
The aerospace industry is very important for the precision casting business within the division, representing nearly 50% of its sales in this market. Aviation accounts for a large part of this. Costantini believes it is important to work with customers as early as possible in the development process: “If you are involved right from the beginning and have good expertise in production technology with the materials, you will be able to manufacture these kinds of sophisticated components.”
© ESAHighly complex precision casting solutions
GF Casting Solutions has been supplying precision casting solutions to the ArianeGroup sites in Vernon (France) and Ottobrunn (Germany) since 2007. These include the inlet and outlet rings attached to the top and bottom of an Ariane 5 engine. Ariane 5 is one of the most powerful European launch vehicles, carrying heavy payloads like satellites and space vehicles into space. “Aerospace components are very large, massive, and extremely complex,” says Costantini. Due to the many work and test phases that are required, it takes an average of 50 weeks from the customer’s order to delivery.
GF in Novazzano uses precision casting technology to meet the strict specifications for geometry, material, and weight: “We use the lost-wax process. It allows us to cast alloys that cannot be achieved in this quality and precision using normal sand casting or steel casting,” says Costantini. All GF components for Ariane 5’s rocket propulsion system contain special chromium- nickel-based alloys that can be used in an environment with temperatures of up to 1’800 degrees Celsius and pressures of more than 100 bar. They are also corrosion-free and easy to weld.
“I believe GF Casting Solutions will remain one of the leading precision casting companies in the space industry for years to come.”
Patrick Costantini, Key Account Manager for Northern Europe
Since 2007, GF has supplied more than 520 precision casting solutions to the ArianeGroup. These include components such as Lox Dom, an application for liquid oxygen, which is used in addition to hydrogen to fuel the rocket engines. However, no more than ten of any single component are ever needed each year. Ariane launches six times a year on average. “That is the challenge with aerospace parts – there is no serial production,” says Costantini.
Sales in the satellite industry have almost doubled in the last ten years. Even so, Costantini observes that “there is no strong growth trend on the market among our customers at the moment.” This is because an increasing number of private space companies are working with small rockets. Their launches cost a fraction of what it costs to launch the Ariane. But they can only carry up to 50 kilograms into orbit, unlike the Ariane 5 with its 6.8-metric-ton payload.
A true heavyweight
Ariane 5 weighs 780 metric tons, with each component from GF Casting Solutions weighing between 10 and 60 kilograms. Find more fascinating figures here.
A boost into the future
GF parts will also be heading regularly into space in the future, as all GF components from the Ariane 5 will also be built into its successor, Ariane 6. The new launcher will be able to carry as much as 11.5 metric tons into space. GF Casting Solutions in Novazzano has received an order for nine additional parts for a turbopump that will be used in the Ariane 5 rocket, as well as Ariane 6 in the future. The first launch is scheduled for December 2022 from the Guiana Space Centre (French Guiana). Costantini believes that GF Casting Solutions will remain one of the leading precision casting companies in the space industry for years to come. “These are small quantities for bigger casting companies, but the tailored expertise of GF Casting Solutions is what matters most.”
30 million hp performance
Ariane 5 blasts into space at a speed of 8 kilometers per second. It reaches several times the speed of sound.
© ESA