Airbus Safran Launchers has awarded GTD with the contract for ‘Real time Simulators for Functional Test Facilities Platform’ of the future ARIANE 6 launcher. The project has just kicked off. The Ariane 6 programme, approved at the Ministerial Council meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA) on 2 December 2014, aims to reduce the cost of space launch by half compared to Ariane 5 and thus enable Europe to remain number one in the commercial launch services market while responding to the needs of European institutional missions.The challenge with Ariane 6 is without any doubt, to reduce the final vehicle price while keeping the quality, reliability and performance of the final product.The project started on December of 2016 and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018, with the first Ariane 6 launch scheduled for late 2020.The Functional Test Facility Platform is based on real-time simulators that will be used for the integration, validation and qualification of the overall Ariane 6 avionics, including flight software and ground systems. GTD will improve and adequate these current systems, mainly dedicated to Ariane 5, for the new European launcher Ariane 6. The improvements include the procurement of the renewed hardware, the development of new HMI, the development of new tools and mathematical models and a final integration and validation of the overall systems. Ariane 6: a rapid overviewThe overarching aim of Ariane 6 is to provide Europe with guaranteed access to space at a competitive price without requiring public sector support for exploitation.The targeted payload performance of Ariane 6 is over 4.5 t for polar/Sun-synchronous orbit missions at 800 km altitude. Ariane 6 can lift a payload mass of 5–10.5 tonnes in equivalent geostationary transfer orbit.Artist's view of the two configurations of Ariane 6 compared with Ariane 5 By: Mireia Colina
