The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it would move ahead on its own low cost rocket reusable engine, named Prometheus. Recent tests at the German Aerospace Centre’s Lampoldshausen facility will validated the hardware components for the first Prometheus engine test model.

Although the engine will be the baseline for future engines, in the short-term technology developments are expected to benefit existing engines. For example, the rocket features a 3D-printed combustion chamber, which manufacturer Ariane Space claims is a first.

At the Space19+ Council meeting in Seville last November, which also saw the agency’s backing nations commit to its biggest ever budget, ESA received full funding to bring the current Prometheus engine design to a ‘technical maturity suitable for industry’.

ESA stated, “ESA’s Prometheus is the precursor of ultra-low-cost rocket propulsion that is flexible enough to fit a fleet of new launch vehicles for any mission and will be potentially reusable.

“Features such as variable thrust, multiple ignitions, suitability for main and upper stage application, and minimised ground operations before and after flight also make Prometheus a highly flexible engine. “This Prometheus precursor runs on liquid oxygen–methane which brings high efficiency, allows standardisation and operational simplicity. Methane propellant is also widely available and easy to handle.”