Vinci (rocket engine)

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Vinci upper stage engine, with nozzle extension deployed

Vinci is a european cryogenic rocket engine currently under development. It is designed to power the new upper stage of Ariane 5, ESC-B, and will be the first European re-ignitable upper stage engine, raising the launcher's GTO performances to 12 t.

1 Overview
2 Development
3 See also
- 3.1 Comparable engines
4 References and notes
5 External links

[edit] Overview

**Engine performance**
Vacuum thrust	180 kN
Vacuum specific impulse	465 s
Propellant mass flow rate	39.4 kg/s
Chamber pressure	6.1 MPa
Engine mass	280 kg

Vinci is an expander cycle rocket engine fed with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Its biggest improvement from its predecessor, the HM-7B (which powers the ESC-A), is the capability of restarting up to five times. It is also the first European expander cycle engine, removing the need for a gas generator to drive the fuel and oxydizer pumps. It features a carbon ceramic extendable nozzle in order to have a large, 2.15 m diameter nozzle extension with minimum length: the retracted nozzle part is deployed only after the upper stage separates from the rest of the rocket; after extension, the engine's overall length increases from 2.3 m to 4.2 m.

[edit] Development

Although the ESC-B development has been put on hold in 2005, the Vinci project has not been cancelled: at a lower pace, the engine is still being developed. In 22 December 2006, Snecma announced a new ESA contract for Vinci rocket engine long-duration and re-ignition testing.