Giulio Ranzo0:24
We are in Avio, a world-leading company in the space launcher sector, with over 100 years of history and active for over 50 years in the space production field. More recently, also active in the realization of complete launch systems for satellites in stationary orbits, in low orbits. This is one of the production facilities where the structures of space launchers are built, and also the propellant is produced, in particular the solid propellant for these particular launchers. Ariane 5, the European launcher for satellites in geostationary orbit, that is satellites dedicated to telecommunications and television broadcasting. In this factory we build the booster, that is those engines that give the launcher thrust in the first 120 seconds of flight after takeoff and that take it from the Earth's surface up to about 60 km away in a propelled phase that lasts about 120 seconds. Behind my back you see a part of the thrusters, one of the segments of the boosters for which we make the thermal protections here and that we also fill with fuel.
Solid. We are in the production facility of Vega, an advanced generation European launcher, that is a launcher dedicated to placing small satellites into low orbit, satellites dedicated to Earth observation and meteorological activities. Avio has the role of prime contractor, that is system integrator, it designs and builds the launcher entirely with an industrial participation exceeding 65%. It is an advanced generation launcher because it uses very innovative technologies, in particular all its structures are made of carbon fiber with special materials developed here by our engineering team. Behind my back we see one of the Vega thrusters, in particular the second stage thruster called Zefiro 23, a motor that contains over 20 tons of solid fuel and that is built entirely at this facility. We are observing the nozzle of the Z23 engine, one of the important components of the engine, the terminal part of the solid fuel productions. This nozzle is entirely designed and built at Avio's facilities with a particular composite material technology. What is it for? Basically, it serves to let out the gases produced during combustion and thus to give thrust to the thruster and to the launcher. The particular characteristic of these technologies is that the nozzle must be flexible, it must be able to move in order to direct the thrust. And the unique technology of Vega's thrusters is that these systems for directing the jet are managed by electric actuators, a technology never used in the space sector, which has demonstrated through flight tests a particular precision in the guidance of the launcher and therefore in delivering the satellite exactly where it needs to be.
In our sector we are stimulated to bring continuous innovation and therefore we will bring new technologies to a launcher that is already advanced generation. The particular element of innovation of the new engines of Vega C, which has been flying since 2018, is the use of a particular composite material developed and patented at Avio. There is another very important element of innovation: the first stage engine of the new version of Vega will be the same first stage engine of Ariane 6, that is the European advanced generation launcher for placing large satellites in geostationary orbit. This is an element of great innovation and compared to other operators in the world sector, it will allow us, as Europe and in particular also as Italy, to play a central role at the global market level.
