Themis cryogenic rehearsal

On October 7, ESA reported the second fuelling rehearsal of its Themis reusable-stage demonstrator. The test took place on September 29 at Sweden’s Esrange Space Center. ArianeGroup and SSC Space teams practised launch procedures and checked the system in very cold conditions. This rehearsal used liquid nitrogen instead of the vehicle’s flammable propellants.

Robots in ground operations

Following a future landing, the stage must be made safe: equipment needs to connect to it and remove residual propellants. Ground robots are intended to perform that work while personnel stay at a distance. ESA says some elements of these operations were included in the rehearsal. SSC Space also describes work on the final automatic countdown sequence and the planned post-flight sequence.

Sources