Vulcain

Vulcain is a family of European cryogenic first stage rocket engines for the Ariane 5. The development of Vulcain, assured by a European collaboration, began in 1988 with the Ariane 5 rocket program. It first flew in 1996 powering the ill-fated flight 501 without being the cause of the disaster, and had its first successful flight in 1997 (flight 502). In 2002 the upgraded Vulcain 2 with 20% more thrust first flew on flight 517, although a proble... more

Vulcain is a family of European cryogenic first stage rocket engines for the Ariane 5. The development of Vulcain, assured by a European collaboration, began in 1988 with the Ariane 5 rocket program. It first flew in 1996 powering the ill-fated flight 501 without being the cause of the disaster, and had its first successful flight in 1997 (flight 502). In 2002 the upgraded Vulcain 2 with 20% more thrust first flew on flight 517, although a problem with the engine turned the flight into a failure. The cause was due to flight loads being much higher than expected, as the inquiry board concluded. Subsequently, the nozzle has been redesigned, reinforcing the structure and improving the thermal situation of the tube wall, enhancing hydrogen coolant flow as well as applying thermal barrier coating to the flame-facing side of the coolant tubes, reducing heat load. The first successful flight of the (partially redesigned) Vulcain 2 occurred in 2005 on flight 521. Although different... less