Joël Lafourcade, a Business Manager and Mandiaye Fall, a Scientific Consultant at Scalian, present the first scientific modelling mission conducted by Scalian for ArianeGroup. In passing, they also talk about their passion for space and this iconic launcher.
An Ariane rocket consists of several stages with specific engines. The first stage is equipped with a P120C engine to achieve lift-off, the second stage is equipped with a Vulcan 2.1 engine and ensures the first 8 minutes of flight. The third engine, named Vinci, is the latest generation of cryogenic upper-stage engines. Its key advantage is that it can be restarted up to three times in order to place several payloads in different orbits, according to the flight plans defined beforehand. Thanks to this system, Ariane 6 will be able to deploy constellations of micro-satellites. The development of these innovative projects for Ariane 6 is still in progress, notably the simulation projects, and this is where Scalian comes in!
Mandiaye’s assignment is to work on the rocket simulation in real time to analyse its behaviour and thus avoid having to do costly physical tests. Working on the ArianeGroup site in Paris region, in conjunction with teams in Normandy, Mandiaye develops mathematical and computer models of the engine’s behaviour during the various flight phases, as well as models of the behaviour of the entire third stage, known as the UL Pro, which consists of the engine, the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit), the fuel tanks, etc.
For the first time, our client is drawing on our expertise in engineering and developing embedded systems. Mandiaye manages a multi-skilled service centre (Software, Simulation, IVVQ and AI).
The maiden test flight is scheduled for 2022 – until then the simulations are continuing!
