#: locale=it
## Tour
### Title
tour.name = Virtual tour Avio
## Skin
### Tooltip
IconButton_00482782_0FC7_9D10_41A1_426EA4ED0689.toolTip = Menù
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## Media
### Title
panorama_60DFAABF_7285_F72F_41DA_7FAE75E07E7A.label = Mechanical processing of nozzle
panorama_6219EFFC_7283_AD31_41D8_F281806DD787.label = Launching station room
panorama_622F0334_7287_5531_41D1_D29D316FFFEB.label = Autoclave room
panorama_625F10E6_7283_5351_41C4_3D03768B5DBC.label = 4th stage integration room
panorama_62A13BA7_7285_75DF_41D0_89EBCF833807.label = Automatic Painting Plant room
panorama_62CA470D_7287_5ED2_41B6_F97DAB2AA154.label = Thermal protection room
panorama_631F96BE_7284_BF31_41D1_5D6834E0CF96.label = Hydraulic testing room
panorama_6346C2B7_7285_573F_41D5_5EFFF8554CE9.label = X-Ray room
panorama_638FC9F4_7284_F531_41D9_0EDA68BF8CCF.label = Integration building room
panorama_639598BF_7283_F32F_4186_3FB1B8EB3E1B.label = Impact
panorama_63FA6E61_7287_AF53_41AF_C18E376A51C8.label = Filament winding room
panorama_7DF94312_7284_D6F1_41D2_64FAB7B72051.label = Overtour
video_1DE85AF4_118B_7235_41A3_CBB0D2A93344.label = AVIO_Fabrizio Colagrande_v1
video_39638CC1_2CC0_ABC3_41C1_84204D5449D6.label = AVIO 27 aprile 2018 HD
video_3A3998DC_2D40_EBC0_41B0_4188EE40A3C1.label = VEGA VV12 - Aeolus Launch Sequence
video_414B0219_4E00_D112_41B0_EFC4DB6B4818.label = AVIO_Erica Squeo_v1
video_43B6EB00_4E00_D0F1_41B0_CB0B4EFA0F4E.label = AVIO_Sara Corsetti_v1
video_43B927DF_4E00_DF0E_417F_87E6F8E58105.label = AVIO_Massimo Epifani_v2
video_4CB0614B_5800_CED1_41CA_21551B98F0CA.label = AVIO_Andrea Mataloni_1402_v4_versioneb
video_6856F85B_67DB_B072_41D2_83170EA71FC6.label = AVIO_Gabriele Mazzoni_v4
video_6E9E28D4_61CF_2D1F_41A0_9504179D677E.label = AVIO_STANZA 2 COLAGRANDE
video_6EF2D598_61CF_2717_41CF_E4E9CFE817B8.label = AVIO_STANZA 1 COLAGRANDE
video_6F73903B_61CC_FD09_41D6_5CB6D73EE239.label = AVIO_Gabriele Fabbi_v1
video_8E060AB1_9C0D_02E9_41DA_42C13BC1018C.label = AVIO_Valentina Pagano_v1
video_8EFAF34E_9C0D_03BB_41C2_55E366E0602D.label = AVIO_Adriano Rotondo_v2
video_91B47C7C_9C21_360D_41D2_9081EB0DEEE1.label = AVIO_Giuseppe Coccon_v7
video_CFCDAB99_DA1E_D2B6_41E9_FE8FD897562B.label = AVIO_Francesco Damiani_v3
video_DD351107_CB5B_33DB_41C9_1F0F71480506.label = P120C_ultimo
## Popup
### Body
htmlText_07FA8BDD_118A_D277_41B0_F04F149D11C1.html = In this building, a large innovative system is installed to paint the external thermal protection and the raceways of the VEGA and VEGA C launchers. This system is a production line where the raw protection is the focus of fully automatized cleaning, preparing and painting with a robot arm.
This machine consistently ensures, with very high precision, the same quantity of paint, roughness, resistivity and color on each single component.
This plant was installed about a year ago and replaced an old system where operators manually painted every plate. Improvements have permitted the achievement of high quality standards for these products.
Decomposable winding mandrels assembling & disassembling "tower":
The decomposable winding mandrel assembling and disassembling station, named "mounting/dismounting tower", is a very special machine which is used for the assembling and disassembling operations of Vega IMC (Insulated Motor Case) winding mandrels, in particular for the Zefiro 23, Zefiro 9 and for the Vega-C Zefiro 40 engines. The decomposable winding mandrel assembling operations are carried out in a vertical configuration where, by means of the bridge crane, the single mandrel sectors are moved and positioned next to each other, connected by means of bolted junctions, until the winding mandrel is completed. Once the mounting is completed, the "tower" is able to change the mandrel configuration from vertical to horizontal in an automatic way, representing the start of the VEGA IMC manufacturing process. Concerning the mandrel dismounting phase, at the end of IMC process, operations are repeated in reverse.
Vega is ESA’s satellite launch vehicle designed to send small satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It provides great flexibility of mission at an affordable cost. Together with the Ariane launcher family, it represents the European solution for access to space.
It is a four stage launcher powered primarily through solid propulsion and can carry multiple payloads at a time in any orbit up to 1,500 km (reference performance is 1,500 kg at a circular polar orbit of 700 km).
It is 30m high and weighs 137 tons at lift-off. It hosts a payload dynamic envelope of 2.3 m diameter and 6.3 m heIght.
Avio is the lead designer and prime contractor for the launch vehicle, also acting as systems integrator.
Avio manages the Vega’s industrial supply chain, which includes companies from seven European countries. 65% of Vega is developed and manufactured in Italy, and the remaining 35% is made in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and France. The Vega program draws on Avio’s heritage in the space elements, system, design, integration and manufacturing sectors, achieved through specific and qualified experiences over fifty years.
This is the igniter of one of the 2 solid rocket boosters that work during the strap on phase of the lift off of the European Launcher Ariane 5. The main igniter is constituted by a steel flange connected with a special thermal protection body. Inside it there is a solid propellant grain that ignites the boosters.
The interstage 1/ 2 is the conical interstage of VEGA that connects the P80 second stage and Zefiro 23 (Z 23) second stage. It is a pyrotechnical assy equipped by 6 separation retro rockets activated by a pyrotechnical chains of 12 pyrocords. The separation between the upper part of this structure and the below part happens when the P80 Solid Rocket Motor terminates its propulsive phase. Inside the interstage are installed a lot of avionic and power supply systems and in particular the Z23 TVC control system that guides the nozzle of Z23 during the VEGA second stage propulsive phase.
The interstage 2 /3 is the cilindrical interstages of VEGA that connects the Zefiro 23 (Z23), second stage and Zefiro 9 (Z9) third stage. It is a pyrotechnical assy equipped by a separation system constitute by 6 compression springs and a pyrotechnical chain. The separation between the upper part of this structure from the below part happens when the Z23 Solid Rocket Motor terminates its propulsive phase. Inside the interstage are installed a lot of avionic and power supply systems and in particular the Z9 TVC control system that guides the nozzle of Z9 during the VEGA third stage propulsive phase.
Avio is responsible for the Zefiro 40 (Z 40) motor – the second stage propulsion system in the Vega C configuration. Avio’s self-financed development of the Z40 began in 2011, with the goal of surpassing the intrinsic limits of the Zefiro 23. The objective of the program is to develop a standard engine using cutting-edge architectures and technologies.
Although the Z40 was developed for use on the Vega C, it is perfectly suited to the latter’s subsequent versions, such as the Vega E. As compared with predecessor Zefiro 23, the new engine has higher average pressure, improved structural design margins for the casing and propellant grain, and a flexible joint with low resistant torque.
Since its foundation in 1912, Avio has been a leading light in technological innovation in Italy. For more than a century, Avio has unfailingly shown great flexibility by expanding and transforming its skills to suit the country’s changing needs. In the 1960s, it became a qualified supplier of space propulsion systems.
The people and institutions that have always supported and believed in the Colleferro “Space Town” project have driven the company forward with great determination throughout its long journey.
Today, Avio is an international group, listed on the Milan stock exchange, leader in the design and production of space launchers and liquid and solid propulsion systems for space transportation.
The experience and know-how acquired over more than 50 years enable Avio to stand out in the field of space launchers, liquid, solid and cryogenic space propulsion systems and tactical propulsion.
It employs around 850 highly-qualified people, about 30% of whom work in research and development.
Avio is prime contractor for the Vega program and sub- contractor for the Ariane program, both financed by the European Space Agency (ESA), making Italy one of the very few countries in the world able to produce a complete space launch vehicle.
Born in 1973, the Ariane program developed the launcher Ariane 1, Ariane 3 e Ariane 4.
The Ariane 5 program started in the early 1980s, financed by ESA (European Space Agency), to respond to market needs for better performance.
The Ariane 5 launcher is designed for payloads up to 10 tons in geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Avio has been working on the Ariane launcher family since the 70s, when it designed, developed and manufactured boosters and stage separation motors for Ariane 1 and 3. Avio later designed and built the Ariane 4 boosters, the enhanced version with 9 tons of solid propellant.
The total number of boosters produced for Ariane 3 and Ariane 4 was more than 180 units, while thousands of separation motors were produced and delivered.
Turbopumps are one of the main components in liquid propellant engines for aerospace use. These machines offer extreme performance, as they are designed to feed the combustion chamber with propellants drawn from tanks that are pressurized to hundreds of bars.
They have enormous power density (such as 6500 HP in a mass of 250 Kg), are exposed to extreme environments (at temperatures ranging from cryogenic to over 1000°C), highly aggressive liquids such as liquid oxygen, and astounding speeds of rotation.
Because of Avio’s lengthy history and broad experience in the design and construction of turbo-machines, the European Space Agency (ESA) entrusted the company with the task of developing the cryogenic, liquid oxygen turbopump (LOX TP) for the Vulcain 1 engine in 1985. The engine completed 24 perfect missions on Ariane 5 before being replaced by a new version, the Vulcain 2. Using this design as a starting point, Avio developed all the LOX turbopumps used in European cryogenic engines, as well as the liquid methane turbo-machine for the Mira-D engine. Avio uses multiple facilities and dedicated test benches for the development of its LOX turbopumps.
P80 is the solid-propellant first stage of the Vega launcher. At present, it’s the second largest single-unit, solid- propellant engine ever built with Filament Winding technology.
Almost 11 metres tall and with a diameter of 3 metres, it weighs 95 tonnes and burns around 88 tonnes of solid propellant in slightly less than 2 minutes. The P80 generates 300 tonnes of thrust – the same amount produced by four jumbo jets on take-off.
The first static bench test was successfully completed in late 2006 at the Kourou Space Center in French Guyana. The results were confirmed in late 2007, when the P80 fully passed its qualifying test, again at Kourou Space Center.
The Interstage 2/3 is the structure that connect the Zefiro 40 (Z40) second stage with the Zefiro 9 (Z9) third stage on the VEGA-C launch vehicle.
The primary structure is a regular and rather dense network of interlaced hoop and helical unidirectional ribs obtained using a continuous deposition process followed by resin infusion.
Structural strength is assured by the interlacing of helixes, hoop and rings achieved during winding process.
Dry pre-form is then consolidated by oven curing after the infusion of epoxy resin.
The Interstage is also equipped with metallic flanges which are designed to transmit the thrust from lower to upper stage. Flanges are connected to the composite grid structure through the composite end rings which are realized by the deposition of plain wave dry carbon fabric.
End rings are interlaced with the ribs as well.
Zefiro 9 (Z 9) is the motor used in the third stage of the Vega launcher. Designed and built exclusively with Avio technologies, it is 3.5 metres tall, has a diameter of slightly less than 2 metres, weighs 11.5 tonnes and burns 9 tonnes of solid propellant.
Z 9 starts up when Vega reaches an altitude of 100 Km and propels the launcher to the 250 Km level in only two minutes.
The final qualifying bench-test firing of Z 9A was performed in May 2010. The Z 9A is an updated version of the motor that powers the third stage of the launcher. This test confirmed that Z 9A is one of the best performing rocket motor in terms of thrust.
Working jointly with ArianeGroup, Avio developed the P120 C solid propellant motor. The new powerplant is derived from the first stage of the Vega launcher P80. Like its predecessor, the structural casing is made of carbon fibre, which is built from pre-impregnated epoxy sheets through filament winding and automatic fabric deposition. It will contain 143 tons of solid propellant. Considering the major investments required for building solid-propellant engines, Avio and its partners ArianeGroup and Europropulsion have come up with an application that provides great economies of scale: the P120 C (Common) is an engine that can serve both as the first stage of the Vega C and as the booster of the future Ariane 6.
These are 2 of the 4 propellant tanks integrated on the 4th stage. The propellant tanks are made in a titanium alloy, and each tank has at the interior a longitudinal bladder that contains the propellant. Outside the bladder there is the gas side of the tank, where the Helium is injected to push the propellant towards the MEA.
P80 is the solid-propellant first stage of the Vega launcher. At present, it’s the second largest single-unit, solid- propellant engine ever built with Filament Winding technology.
Almost 11 metres tall and with a diameter of 3 metres, it weighs 95 tonnes and burns around 88 tonnes of solid propellant in slightly less than 2 minutes. The P80 generates 300 tonnes of thrust – the same amount produced by four jumbo jets on take-off.
The first static bench test was successfully completed in late 2006 at the Kourou Space Center in French Guyana. The results were confirmed in late 2007, when the P80 fully passed its qualifying test, again at Kourou Space Center.
The autoclave is a special machine used different times during the Vega IMC (Insulated Motor Case) manufacturing process. First of all, after the application of the internal thermal protection on the decomposable winding mandrel and vacuum bag installation, the IMC is moved inside the autoclave where, with a timely combination of pressure and temperature, the thermal protection is vulcanized in order to reach the desired characteristics. Subsequently, once the filament winding and skirt manufacturing processes have been completed, the IMC is moved again into the autoclave for the composite curing cycle where a special temperature and time profile is applied in order to allow the prepreg carbon fibers curing process. Finally, once the acceptance tests and non destructive inspections have been completed, and before the propellant casting process is started, the IMC come back again into the autoclave for the drying process of the internal thermal protection.
This is one of the various pressurization units used during the acceptance phase, needed to verify the proper working of the AVUM stage. It is needed to pressurize the stage up to the proof pressure to guarantee the goodness of the weldings and the screwed joints, and also to provide the correct pressure during the functional tests of the LPS and RACS subsystem.
The AAM is the head of the launcher and host all the avionic components needed to drive the launcher to its destination. The equipments are integrated on a small floor made out of composite materials, and connected by electrical cables, that carry all the commands to the entire launcher.
These are 2 of the 4 propellant tanks integrated on the 4th stage. The propellant tanks are made in a titanium alloy, and each tank has at the interior a longitudinal bladder that contains the propellant. Outside the bladder there is the gas side of the tank, where the Helium is injected to push the propellant towards the MEA.
This is the MEA, the liquid engine of the 4th stage of VEGA. This engine permits, through multiple ignitions, to carry out final approach manoeuvres to a predefined orbit and the correct positioning of the satellite before its release into orbit. Its thrust is given by the combustion of an hypergolic propellant, composed by the UDMH (fuel) and NTO (oxidizer), that do not need an ignition system.
The Gas tank is a cylindrical tank made in titanium-lined overwrapped with carbon fiber composite. This guarantee that it has a light weight and at the same time that it can be pressurized up to more than 300 bar. Because of its high operational pressures it is designed with the “leak before burst” safety criteria, that means that a crack in the tank will grow through the wall, allowing the contained gas to escape and reducing the pressure, before to growing up to cause a burst.
This machine executes the curing phases of raw carbon wrapped material in order to obtain a strong end product with specific features.
This is a big container filled with water at high pressure and temperatures where the raw item is submerged; in some cases, it takes a day to cure the components. There are about 20 cubic meters of water pressing the material that changes its chemical state. These conditions permit every mechanically and chemically required feature. Nozzles, in fact, have to ensure first of all high resistance to erosion and also significant strength to withstand forces and pressure, ensuring structural integrity during flight.
In the same way of other machines, the hydroclave is fully automatized by computer to check every technical parameter to ensure the success of the process.
VEGA launchers comprise several stages and each has a motor case containing propellant, an igniter in the front that starts combustion and a nozzle installed in rear.
The main function of the nozzle is to convert to propulsive thrust all the energy contained in the tons of solid propellant. It also has a mobile part that can tilt a few degrees in order to direct the launcher on the right trajectory during flight.
The internal parts of the nozzle comprise many bonded components which protect the thermally metallic
part from the heat during the combustion. In these conditions, the eroding internal geometrical shapes
must remain constant in order to guarantee performance during the flight.
It is the biggest tooling machine installed in this building: a vertical lathe able to work big carbon cones of
diameter of as much as 2500mm and weighing up to 5 tons.
This machine also of course has computer numerical control and a separated working environment.
Often it takes many days to finish the lathing activity on an item, so operators work for days to complete the geometry and measuring of the cone.
The machine is fully automated to execute all the accurate operations described in the turning programs.
High-tech manufacturing and miniaturization are fundamental innovations for the democratization of space, thanks to the reduction of satellite construction costs. Today, in fact, it is also possible for companies to exploit the enormous potential and advantages of satellite technology.
Thanks to satellites we can constantly track our position, with a significant improvement in safety conditions and analytical monitoring of our performances.
GPS technology, daily used to orientate billion people in the world, massively exploits the information gathered by satellites, which from space guide and facilitate life on earth.
Satellites play a crucial role in the field of weather forecasting and climate change monitoring of our planet.