ProjectENLIGHTEN-ED

European iNitiative for Low cost, Innovative & Green High Thrust Engine – ENGINE DEMONSTRATION”

Start date: 1 March 2024
Duration: 36 months

The ENLIGHTEN-ED project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101135156.

The European space sector, a cornerstone of economic growth, faces fierce global competition and technological disruption. To preserve independent access to space, European launchers must halve their prices in the short term, while long-term resilience requires the creation of a unified family of launchers with reusability features. In this context, the EU-funded ENLIGHTEN-ED project is tasked with advancing reusable rocket engines. Leveraging additive manufacturing, AI and extremely low-cost subsystems, the project is targeting ground demonstrations of engines drawing on a broad range of new technologies by 2026, a crucial step towards a more competitive European future in space. In addition, the project consortium, made up of major aerospace players, will pioneer a greener high-thrust engine based on liquid hydrogen.

The space sector is a source of economic growth, jobs and exports, contributing to all the key strategic orientations of the EU strategic plan. In the face of growing competition and technological disruption, it is absolutely vital to act in support of the development of European space launchers in order to preserve Europe’s independent access to space.

European launchers must improve their competitiveness by halving the launch price in the short term. In the long term, Europe will create common building blocks for an integrated and competitive European family of launchers of all sizes with reusability features.

Within ENLIGHTEN-ED, a tailor-made consortium (comprising major aerospace players, an SME, an RTO and a university) will prepare a Green High Thrust Engine (GTHE) demonstrator based on liquid hydrogen, using:

• The latest advances in additive manufacturing to reduce the cost and number of engine parts
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop Europe’s first space engine health monitoring system, needed to implement reusability
• New, very low-cost subsystems such as the engine ignition system, nozzle extension, electric valves and multifunctional lines

ENLIGHTEN-ED will therefore demonstrate the ability of such a very low-cost engine to become rapidly operational and available to all European launcher families, and will thus strive to increase the competitiveness of the European GTHE.

• Arianegroup Sas
• Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung Ev
• Edgise SA
• Anwendungszentrum Gmbh Oberpfaffenhofen
• Arianegroup Gmbh
• Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft – Und Raumfahrt Ev
• Avio Spa
• Silicon Austria Labs Gmbh
• Aerospace Propulsion Products (A.p.p.) Bv
• Areelis Technologies Sarl
• Erneo
• Industrialisation Des Recherches Sur Les Procédés Et Les Applications Du Laser
• Adira Addcreative, S.A.
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Aiko Srl
• Office National D’etudes Et De Recherches Aerospatiales
• Deloitte Conseil

In the medium term, ENLIGHTEN-ED will contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy in the development, deployment and use of global space infrastructure, service applications and data. It will strengthen the EU’s independent capability to access space, secure autonomy of supply for critical technologies and equipment, and foster the competitiveness of the EU space sector. The Horizon Europe funding awarded to ENLIGHTEN-ED, in line with the Space Strategy for Europe, will help 1) provide support for R&I activities on access to space and 2) prepare future developments of the European roadmap and space programme for green and reusable launchers.

• Reduce the number of special processes (less welding, for example), which will reduce the associated cost and inspections
• Reduce development time compared with casting/forging (from several months/years to several weeks)
• Advance the maturation of the LMD process and functional testing
• Optimise the design of combustion devices for the LMD manufacturing process
• Mature the LMD process (parameters, printing strategy) for building (large) special components
• Reduce manufacturing costs and lead times for combustion device structures by more than 50 %
• Improve the manufacturing process to reach TRL 6/7

The results of ENLIGHTEN-ED will help strengthen the EU’s strategic autonomy by using only components/raw materials/technologies available in Europe. The various players involved in this project come exclusively from European industry, research centres and universities. This project therefore mobilises European players who will develop new components and new technologies that will consequently be European.

• Total budget : 20 310 000,00€
• Total budget for IREPA LASER : 252 900€
• Funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme : 252 900€

• View the ENLIGHTEN-ED project poster 
• Visit the official website
• Link to LinkedIn